Series Mania Crowns Winners: Iceland’s ‘Blackport’ Takes International Grand Prize

David Tennant, French comedy Call My Agent and Israeli drama Tehran are among those vying for prizes at the International Emmy Awards this year. Nominations for the awards this year saw 44 nominees across 11 categories and a record number of 24 countries.

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Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBanijay has boarded “Countrymen,” a new drama series produced by its Norwegian label, Rubicon, with a cast of Scandinavian stars, including Nader Khademi (“Ninjababy”), Ayaz Hussain (“Kasim Bæder”), Jonas Strand Gravli (“Ragnarok”) Arben Bala (“Lilyhammer”) and Erika Strand Mamelund. The show will world premiere at Cannes Series and has been commissioned by the public broadcaster NRK, in co-production with Arte France.

Video: Celebrity MasterChef: Katie Price stars in BBC trailer (Irish Mirror)Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster support NHS charities at Icon BallHer main consisted of a French trimmed rack of lamb, Caribbean curried goat pie, roasted carrots, spinach, silver skin onions and a lamb curry sauce, while dessert was Choux au Craquelin, a type of pastry, filled with mascarpone whipped cream, with hazelnut praline crumb and tempered chocolate.

Xbox Series X|S offering smaller storage capacity at a more affordable price.According to French website Xbox Squad (thanks, VGC), a new 500GB version of the expansion card is reportedly being sold to suppliers for €125.71 (£107.22) before tax.

Ed Meza @edmezavarIcelandic film production company Sagafilm and Sweden’s LittleBig Productions are developing a historical series about 17th-century Icelanders abducted by Barbary corsairs and sold into slavery in North Africa.Tentatively titled “Salé” — a city on the North African coast that was also a haven for pirates — the series is inspired by true events.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentLeading French podcast production company Paradiso Media has completed a Series A round of financing to pursue its international development, build its workforce and continue producing more film and TV adaptations. Although Paradiso Media did not disclose the amount raised, a source close to the company said a total of €5 million ($5.9 million) was raised.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has signed a multi-year partnership with “Unorthodox” creator Anna Winger’s production company Airlift Productions to develop and produce international drama series.The first project under the partnership will be “Transatlantic” (working title), a drama series set during the 1940 refugee crisis in Marseilles, France, inspired by the true adventures of the Emergency Rescue Committee and Julie Orringer’s 2019 novel, “The Flight Portfolio.” The series is created by

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSean Baker’s “Red Rocket” won a pair of prizes at the 47th Deauville American Film Festival where “Blue Bayou,” “Down With the King,” “Pleasure” and “John and the Hole” also picked up awards during the closing ceremony.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentColcoa, the Los Angeles-based French film festival, will be launching a competitive documentary section at its upcoming 25th edition. The documentary lineup will tackle contemporary and historical topics such as climate change, immigration, transgender inclusion, holocaust revelations and centenary celebration.

Naman Ramachandran Director Max Newsom (“Plunge: The Movie”) returns with new film “Iceland Is Best,” featuring a winning turn from Judd Nelson (“The Breakfast Club”) and a fresh young cast. The film follows 17-year-old Sigga who tells her parents she is leaving her beautiful Icelandic fishing village to become a poet in California as her grandfather has just given her enough money to buy a plane ticket.

Series Mania 2022

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFollowing a delayed, yet successful 2021 edition held last week, Series Mania will switch back to its usual Spring slot in 2022. The next edition will take place March 18-25 in Lille, France.

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John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentPeriod tragicomedy “Blackport,” backed by Icelandic public broadcaster RUV and European network Arte, won top honors on Thursday at leading European TV festival Series Mania taking its Grand Prize.The biggest plaudit at Lille’s Series Mania represents the festival’s second prize for the series after it awarded it best pitch kudos at the Berlinale Co-Pro Series in 2018.“Blackport” represents a deep-dive into recent Icelandic history, kicking off in

Iceland Airwaves festival has been postponed until 2022.In a statement on the festival’s website today (September 2), organisers said: “Due to new and ongoing COVID-19 measures imposed by the Icelandic Government, Iceland Airwaves has been postponed to 2022.”Organisers added: “In regards to line up for 2022, we hope that most of the bands can join us next year, but news on this will follow shortly, as discussions with each band will be on a case by case basis, contingent on their availability

Jamie Lang Benoît Danard, head of research and statistics at France’s National Film Board (CNC), hosted a brief presentation at the Series Mania festival in Lille on Tuesday, where he outlined international TV commissioning trends according to a recent Ampere Analysis study.For the study, Ampere tracked all commissioned TV shows for both linear broadcasters and VOD platforms from Aug.