Mumbai: Series Mania, the French television festival held in Lille, has announced its 2021 line-up ahead of the event set for 30 August. Series Mania's president Rodolphe Belmer, founder and general director Laurence Herszberg recently unveiled details for the upcoming event.
Series Mania 2021 offers exclusive world premieres of the greatest international series from more than 20 countries. At the same time, the festival welcomes 3,000 international professionals from the television industry at Series Mania Forum and Lille Dialogues summit set for 30 August-1 September. Two key events for networking and business are now extended online with the creation in 2020 of Series Mania Digital Forum.
The 2021 international jury includes: Entertainment One, head of Drama, Polly Williams, producer and creator of "Masha" Maria Feldman, France Televisions' VP-digital Sened Dhab, Indiana Productions' film & TV head and partner Daniel Campos Pavoncelli.
The festival will open with the world premiere of British thriller “Vigil,” a World Production for BBC, in association with ITV Studios in partnership with ARTE, starring Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie.
The international competition jury will be chaired by screenwriter, director and producer Hagai Levi (BeTipul, The Affair, Our Boys) and contenders include “Kamikaze” (Denmark, HBO Max), “Anna” (Italy); “Blackport” (Iceland), “Furia” (Norway, Germany), “Germinal” (France, Italy), “Hamlet” (Turkey), and “Jerusalem” and “The Echo of Your Voice” (both Israel).
The festival will also see premieres of several American series, including the AMC dramedy "Kevin Can F**k Himself" starring Annie Murphy, and Peacock’s true-crime thriller "Dr. Death" starring Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater, Carrie Preston, and Joshua Jackson.
Other premieres include season five of Netflix’s hugely anticipated, "Money Heist".
Series Mania '21 will host guests of honor including "Breaking Bad" creator Vince Gilligan, "Dexter" showrunner Clyde Philipps, and "The Good Fight" actress Audra McDonald.