The 2023 edition of the international TV festival
Series Mania has come to an end on Friday, March 24. This year marked
one of its highest competitions ever, with record attendance numbers for both the
Series Mania Festival and the Series Mania Forum. During the closing event, Ms.
Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, commented
“We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended
this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for
the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum”.
On the closing evening, Ms. Herszberg also
announced the winners of the many categories taken into consideration during the
one-week Festival.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
The international jury chaired by Lisa Joy with
Emmanuelle Béart, Anurag Kashyap, Chris Chibnall, Judah Levi, and Lou Doillon
awarded four prizes among the nine series presented in world or international
premiere during the festival. The Grand Prize went to Iranian dramedy The
Actor, the Best Writing award was given to John Kâre Raake for Norwegian
dystopian drama The Fortress, Margot Bancilhon won as Best Actress
for her role in French thriller Haven of Grace, while Michael Sheen was
awarded as Best Actor in British drama series Best Interests.
INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA
The International Panorama jury, formed by Hervé
Le Tellier, Lone Korslund, Assa Sylla, Hugo Bardin, Jandiz Cardoso, and Lila
Byock, awarded four prizes among the twelve series presented in French,
European, and world premiere. Swedish thriller Blackwater was awarded
the Best Series prize, the Best Directing award went to Ernesto
Contreras for Mexican drama Tengo que morir todas las noches, Rotem Sela
and Gal Malka tied for the Best Actress award for Israeli drama series A
Body That Works, and Eran Naim won the Best Actor category for his
role in German-Israeli drama Innermost. Lastly, there was an additional
award to assign: the Student award for Best Series, which went to
British dramedy Funny Woman.
FRENCH COMPETITION
An international jury presided over by Ariana
Finos, with Enric Albero, Hanna Huge, Adrian Hennigan, and Ashanti Omkar
awarded four prizes among the six French series in competition, presented in
world premiere during the festival. The Best Series prize was awarded to
political comedy Under Control, Clémentine Célarié was decreed Best
Actress for playing in dramedy Six Women, while Carel Brown received
the Best Actor award for his part in dramedy Aspergirl. Maud
Geffray and Rebeka Warrior won the Best Original Score award for drama
series Split.
SHORT FORMS COMPETITION
The international jury composed of Sam Shaw,
Madison Walsh, Jérémy Gillet and Charlotte Abramow awarded the Best Series
prize to Spanish YA dramedy Autodefensa, among the eight contestants of
this competition. The series, written and created by Berta Prieto, Belén Barenys
and Miguel Ángel Blanca, portrays
the concerns and feelings of a generation that is still on the look for its
identity: the Gen Z.
COMEDY COMPETITION
The French series Rictus was awarded Best
Series among the six comedies in this category by a jury composed of high
school students of the Hauts-de-France. The comedy series written and created
by Arnaud Malherbe and Marion Festraëts
revolves around Steph, a diligent employee who is hunted down by the
anti-laughter police after being suspected of being too funny, in a world where
laughter is prohibited.
PUBLIC AWARD
Finally, Ms. Herszberg announced the TV series
among all the titles in competition (except for those of the Short Forms’
category) which was decreed Best Series by the festival’s audience, who
voted their favorite TV show at the end of the screenings: the prize was
awarded to Canadian drama Little Bird, which addresses Canada’s “1960s
scoop”, a cruel controversy in which the government forcibly removed Indigenous
children from their families without a warning.
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