Icelandic Series Mania Winner ‘Blackport’ Brings Political Drama, Severed Limbs to Göteborg

Afternoon subscribers. Max Goldbart here with your weekly dose of International Insider news and analysis and it’s been as busy as ever over the past seven days. Scroll down for more.

Jamie Lang Spanish Academy Award-winning filmmaker David Pérez Sañudo (“Ane is Missing”) is shifting his gaze to the small screen, writing the upcoming eight-part drama series “Detective Touré,” which he will co-pen with novelist and TV writer Carlos Vila (“Los misterios de Laura”).Based on the “Detective Touré Saga” books by Basque author John Arretxe, the series is produced by Oscar-winning studio Tornasol (“The Secret In Their Eyes”) and DeAPlaneta, a prolific sales-distribution outfit now focused on producing literary adaptations  (“Ana. All In”).Just this week, the project was picked as one of 15 finalists selected to pitch at next month’s Series Mania Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, with a €50,000 ($56,000) cash prize on the line.

Series Mania Forum’s 2022 Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.One of Europe’s most prestigious TV competitions, with titles competing for a €50,000 ($56,000) grand prize, this year’s Sessions form part of the Forum, which runs March 22-24.The lineup is rich in projects backed by top-tier producers and sales forces, while sluiced by large themes, such as racial and gender equality.The latest from top Italian company Fandango, producer of “Gomorrah” and “My Brilliant Friend,” “The Impossible She” turns on about the first woman to be selected for a Formula 1 race.

Jamie Lang Series Mania unveiled the fifteen projects set to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions with the hopes of scoring the €50,000 ($56,821) grand prize. Among the impressive list of participants is Israeli thriller “The Accident,” written by celebrated filmmaker Mata Yair (“Scaffolding,” “One on One”) and produced by Maya Fischer at his long-time collaborators Green Productions.“The Accident” is the story of the Alegba family and their efforts to get away from their life in a downtrodden neighborhood dominated by criminals.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a strong first English-language trailer for director Rama Burshtein’s (Fill The Void) anticipated TV debut Fire Dance, which has just been announced for Series Mania’s main competition.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOnly six months after its 2021 edition, Series Mania will be back with a sprawling selection, including the world premieres of Michael Hirst’s “Billy The Kid” (pictured), the Israeli series “Fire Dance” and rap music-themed French show “Le monde de demain.”Underscoring the large presence of streamers within the roster, Series Mania will kick off with Netflix’s “Standing Up,” a new comedy series from “Call My Agent” creator and showrunner Fanny Herrero; while Disney Plus’ “Oussekine,” about a tragic case of police brutality in France, will close the festival.The lineup boasts 58 series spanning 21 countries. These were chosen from 331 series.

Series Mania has unveiled the nine shows from six countries competing for the prestigious International Competition along with revealing the lineup and guests of honor for this year’s edition, the first to take place in person for three years.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editorAn eight-hour drama inspired by Carolyn Arnold’s “Madison Knight” detective novels is being developed by Muse Entertainment and Pop Fiction Entertainment.Hélène Joy (“Durham County,” “Murdoch Mysteries”) will star as Madison Knight, a daring detective who works to investigate criminals throughout the series. Orion Lee (“First Cow”) will portray Knight’s work partner, Detective Steven Hung.

A popular holiday deal is back, giving travellers the chance of a trip of a lifetime for less than £100.

EXCLUSIVE: Shooting upcoming Netflix pic Against The Ice was no straightforward task, as its stars and director reveal to Deadline in a first interview as a trio.

JD Linville There are few places on Earth more visually striking than the Black Sands of Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland, where tourists flock to take pictures and stand a fool’s chance to be smashed against the rocks by sneaker waves, then drowned at sea. These dangerous and beautiful beaches serve as backdrop for Icelandic showrunner Baldvin Z’s crime thriller series “Black Sands,” which will play at Berlinale Series. Written by Baldvin Z, Ragnar Jónsson, Andri Óttarsson and Aldís Hamilton, the limited series follows disgraced detective Anita (played by Hamilton) as she investigates a series of deaths at the beach while balancing the familial shadows of her past.The series, produced by Baldvin Z’s own Glassriver, brings a warmth to Nordic Noir not often seen, with scenes of Anita reconnecting and rekindling her hometown connections after expulsion from Reykjavik.

Tim Dams One of the highlights of the Berlinale Series Market is the pitch event Co-Pro Series, which looks to match projects with suitable co-producers and financiers.Ten international series projects from Europe, Canada and Latin America have been selected to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Series, where they will also have the opportunity of meeting one-on-one with potential partners.Taking place over two days (Feb. 15-16), and held online once again due to the pandemic, Co-Pro Series has a track record of showcasing drama projects that have not only gone on to be produced, but that have also achieved success.International hit “Babylon Berlin,” Austrian-German crime series “Freud,” Norwegian-German domestic terrorism drama “Furia,” Icelandic thriller “Blackport” and 1920s-set German drama “Eldorado KaDeWe” have all participated in previous Co-Pro Series pitches.

Mary J. Blige may be from New York, but she was right at home on the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show stage in Los Angeles.

Michael Nordine authorImagining what “In the Mood for Love” might have been like had Apichatpong Weeraserhakul directed it will land you somewhere in the vicinity of “Before, Now & Then,” Kamila Andini’s beguiling drama set in 1960s Indonesia. Anyone familiar with that country’s history, even if only through Joshua Oppenheimer’s devastating companion documentaries “The Act of Killing” and “The Look of Silence,” knows that there’s little happiness on the other side of this film’s end credits, but Andini’s literary adaptation is so transfixing that her characters never feel as doomed as we know them to be.The “before” prologue finds Nana (Happy Salma) and her sister Ninsingh (Rieke Diah Pitaloka) fleeing for their lives, with our heroine convinced that both her husband and father are dead as the result of the country’s anticommunist purge — a fate that may await her should she refuse to marry an insurgent leader who lives in the forest.

LONDON -- Caitlyn Jenner is off to the races again, launching a team in a single-seater motor racing championship for female drivers.Jenner, the former Olympic champion and reality TV personality who had a failed bid for California governor, started the Jenner Racing team in the W Series for the 2022 season.The 72-year-old Jenner will oversee the day-to-day running of her team, including the driver lineup and landing sponsors to compete in the series that often runs on Formula One race weekends.The W Series opens in May in Miami.“As a believer in fair competition, a lover of motor racing, and a supporter of all women in sport from the grassroots to elite level, W Series ticks every box for me and is a fusion of the different aspects of my career,” she said. “A championship dedicated to inspiring young girls and giving women the chance to succeed in roles throughout what has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, W Series is changing the face of motorsport.”Jenner, a 1976 decathlon Olympic gold medalist who came out as a transgender woman in 2015, debuted as a professional racing driver at the 24 Hours of Daytona race in 1980 as part of Jim Busby’s team.

Dua Lipa has today launched her “global style, arts and culture newsletter” called Service95.The free platform was announced last November and will be released weekly to subscribers – you can sign up here. Talking about the venture, Lipa said: “I find huge joy in telling people what I’ve learned about in any given city and love finding connection in our shared experiences.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIcelandic smash hit drama series “Blackport” won on Wednesday the 2022 Nordisk Film & TV Prize, Scandinavia’s top plaudit for drama series writing.The award was announced on site at the end of an intense first day of conference panels at the Göteborg Festival’s TV Drama Vision, with two of the series’ three writers, Gísli Örn Garðarsson and Mikael Torfason on stage to collect the Nordic TV Drama Screenplay Award, carrying a €20,000 ($22,600) cash prize. They were accompanied by producer Nina Dögg Filippusdóttir.

William Earl It’s been more than two decades since Björk’s once-maligned, now-revered Marjan Pejoski “swan dress” became the talk of the 73rd Academy Awards red carpet, and since then her way-left-of-center proclivities have become more and more commonplace. Kanye West wearing a mask while performing the seismic Yeezus Tour? Lady Gaga’s meat outfit? Katy Perry’s singing, phallic mushrooms during her Vegas residency and latest “SNL” performance? All seem directly sprung from the Icelandic singer’s performance art universe.