Series Mania: French-Israeli Writing Residency Delivers Five Projects

By Marc Malkin

By Elsa Keslassy

By Jake Kanter

Daniel Garcia (Victor Rasuk) works in the family bakery, doing everything his loving Cuban parents and siblings expect him to do. But after meeting the international fashion mogul Noa Hamilton (Nathalie Kelley) on a wild Miami night, his life is suddenly thrust into the spotlight.

Produced by Paris-based outfit Mother Productions and sold internationally by eOne, the six-part limited series “La Garçonne” offers a playful, gender-bending spin on the period potboiler. Set during the roar of the early 1920s, the show follows a one-time war medic forced to take on not one, but two new identities after she witnesses a murder performed by a pair of government officials.

Produced by Paris-based outfit Mother Productions and sold internationally by eOne, the six-part limited series “La Garçonne” offers a playful, gender-bending spin on the period potboiler. Set during the roar of the early 1920s, the show follows a one-time war medic forced to take on not one, but two new identities after she witnesses a murder performed by a pair of government officials.

Presented as part of Series Mania’s Coming Next from France showcase, the youth-skewing series “Derby Girl” offers a fast-paced, darkly comic portrait of a disgraced former-figure skater named Lola Bouvier (Chloé Jouannet), who is offered a shot at redemption when she joins a local roller derby league, the Cannibal Unicorns.

With the world taking a seemingly dystopian turn due to the Cover-19 pandemic, “My First Family,” a high-concept series project set in an alternate world created by Maya Zaydman (“Our Boys”) and Ori Sivan (“In Treatment”), will likely strike a chord with audiences.

By Bruce Haring

Manu Dibango has sadly passed away at the age of 86.

Manu Dibango, who fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music, died Tuesday (March 24) with the coronavirus, according to his music publisher. He was 86.

Manu Dibango, the pioneering Cameroonian jazz musician whose song “Soul Makossa” was interpolated in Michael Jackson’s hit “Wanna Be Starting Something,” died in Paris Tuesday after contracting Covid-19, according to The Guardian and multiple news outlets. He was 86.

Manu Dibango, the afro-jazz great behind hits including “Soul Makossa,” died Tuesday morning (March 24) from COVID-19, the BBC and AFP report. He was 86. “A voice raises from far away,” a statement on his Facebook page began. “It is with deep sadness that we announce you the loss of Manu Dibango, our Papy Groove.” There will be a private funeral service before a tribute is held “when possible,” according to the statement.

PARIS -- Renowned jazz man Manu Dibango, to many the beloved “Papy Groove” who served as an inspiration and pioneer in his art, died on Tuesday with the coronavirus, his official Facebook page announced. He was 86.

Italy’s Indigo Film, the production company behind Oscar-winner “The Great Beauty,” is in advanced stages on a TV series for the global marketplace titled “A Marriage” that intends to put the narrative of a painful divorce involving custody of a child under a microscope.

MADRID — Never has a TV Festival re-launched in such extraordinary circumstances, or using such novel means.

Streaming online via video presentations from March 25, Series Mania’s experimental Digital Forum will make or break on the quality of its centerpiece, its Co-Pro Pitching Sessions.  This year’s lineup, at least on paper, looks particularly strong.