Berlinale Series Announces HBO Max’s Spy/Master,’ Disney+’s ‘The Good Mothers,’ India’s ‘Dahaad’
This is now an integral part of the Berlin Film Festival, this year’s Berlinale Series will welcome Italy’s “The Good Mothers,” Norway’s “Arkitekten” and “Dahaad,” about a female police officer dealing with misogyny and traditional Indian society while also chasing a possible serial killer.
“Why Try to Change Me Now,” “Agent,” Denmark’s answer to the French smash, and already announced big-budget eco-thriller “The Swarm” will also be shown, joined by Australia’s “Bad Behavior” – made by Matchbox Pictures, also behind Yvonne Strahovski and Cate Blanchett starrer “Stateless” – and HBO Max drama “Spy/Master,” all vying for the newly established Berlinale Series Award.
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“Stories with a reasonable budget – that’s certainly a new trend coming from commissioners,” said Julia Fidel, head of Berlinale Series.
“It’s no longer all about dramas that will cost ridiculous amounts of money. The argument is that people value good ideas, not big budgets.”
Still, the likes of “The Swarm,” depicting people’s fight against an unknown enemy living in the sea – exec-produced by Emmy award-winning Frank Doelger and set to open the section – and “Spy/Master” are bound to bring in the thrills.
“It has some very strong Romanian arthouse pedigree in it: Cristian Mungiu’s Mobra Films and Proton Cinema are involved and so is Adina Sãdeanu, who co-wrote it,” noted Fidel about the Cold War story, which sees a Romanian Secret Service agent, direct consultant to Nicolae Ceaușescu, getting caught up in the web of his own lies. Alec Secăreanu, known for “God’s Own Country,” is cast as the lead.
“It’s a really great show that HBO is bringing to us. It is filled with amazing images and great acting. We aren’t really focusing on historical dramas this year, but this one felt very relevant today. People would look at it differently before Russia invaded Ukraine.”
While the young adult trend has shifted back to the broadcasters trying to win back their audience, says Fidel, climate change and future visions, and nightmares, are another big theme, with four-episode miniseries “Arkitekten” and “Dome 16,” the latter chosen for the Berlinale Series Market Selects, both taking on the housing crisis in the near future.
“There is a lot of wit and very sarcastic observations in it. And it’s really, really brilliant. It may mark the arrival of a new talent,” she says about “Arkitekten,” in which gentrification has gone so far that a female intern at an architectural company is forced to stay in a car park, where people are renting out space. A competition is then announced: Many architects are looking for affordable ways to live in the city.
Gender politics also stay relevant, with many familiar genres emerging with a female twist.
“In ‘Dahaad,’ the police inspector with the cool shades and one-liners, riding a motorcycle, is a woman. In ‘Arkitekten,’ it’s the female protagonist who is looking for success and isn’t afraid of betrayal. Eight years ago, it would have been a man,” says Fidel.
“Dahaad,” with its “badass” protagonist, won’t be the only show coming from India, with Berlinale Series Market Selects’ “Brown” depicting another female investigator on the hunt for a brutal killer. While it will boast a “Silence of the Lambs”-like setup, teases Fidel, “Dahaad” will dive into politically charged subjects.
“It’s a great story, because it says so much about Indian society and addresses all these complicated issues, including anti-Muslim sentiments.”
Disney+’s offering “The Good Mothers” – based on a true story – will also focus on women. Women of the mafia, to be exact, as the attorney who is trying to bring down the ‘Ndrangheta decides to concentrate on them instead.
“To have your classic mafia story turned around by focusing on the women is just so simple and clever. The streamers are really strong this year,” notes Fidel.
Finally, in “Why Try to Change Me Now” – Berlinale Series’ “super arthouse experience” and its first Chinese title – a young police officer participates in an investigation which will lead him to an old childhood friend. Its director, Dalei Zhang, was already awarded in Berlin for his 2020 short “Day is Done.”
“[China’s] Economic reform had a significant impact on my parents as well as other family members. Somehow, when I try to revisit those hard days in my memory, I remembered more optimism and persistence rather than suffering and struggle,” he said in a statement.
“Those days felt quite romantic, and I recalled hearing more music at home as it became my father’s shield from the gloomy mood.”
The show is an adaptation of Shuang Xuetao’s novella “Moses on the Plain.”
Spirits will also be lifted thanks to “Agent,” another take on France’s phenomenon “Call My Agent!,” and Canada’s “À propos d’Antoine,” a dramedy about a woman who meets the man of her dreams, and then his dysfunctional family.
“If she wants to become a part of his life, she has to accept that too. But luckily, there is a lot of love around,” reassured Fidel.
“You will laugh, you will feel awkward, you will cry. It’s really touching.”
Series Market Selects also features “1985,” a 2022 Canneseries standout from Belgium’s Eyeworks Film & TV Drama. Inspired by true events, it mixes coming-of-age drama with the depiction of the origins of modern Belgium as two young Gendarmarie police recruits are entangled in police corruption – insider drug trading, heavy fire arms robbery – and the rise of the brutal Nijvel gang.
Another potential Market Selects highlight, given the pedigree of its writers, is “Traitor,” a U.K.-Israel co-production from “Euphoria,” “False Flag” and “No Man’s Land” scribes Amit Cohen and Ron Leshem. This thriller is described as an edge-of the-seat thriller. It revolves around a Tel Aviv-India flight that suddenly disappears in midair.
Berlinale Series Market takes place between Feb. 20-22.
John Hopewell contributed this article.
Berlinale Series 2023
The Berlinale provides all information:
Agent
with Esben Smed, Selma Sol i Dali Pape, Julie Agnete Vang, Nikolaj Coster- Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen| with Esben Smed, Selma Sol í Dali Pape, Julie Agnete Vang, Nikolaj Coster- Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen
Denmark 2023
Berlinale Series | World premiere | Broadcaster: TV2 | 2/8 episodes
As an agent for some of the top names in music and film, Johan’s job is to solve his clients’ private and professional problems. Johan is chronically overworked, but never lacks ideas. He can be found teetering between ingenious and absolute chaos.
Arkitekten (The Architect) with Eili Harboe, Fredrik Stenberg D-S, Ingrid Unnur Giaever, Alexandra Gjerpen, Petronella Barker| with Eili Harboe, Fredrik Stenberg D-S, Ingrid Unnur Giæver, Alexandra Gjerpen, Petronella Barker
Norway 2023
Berlinale Series | World premiere | Debut film | Broadcaster: Viaplay Group | 4/4 episodes
Julie, an architect, has an idea. Why not turn empty underground carparks into residential buildings when a bid is made for a project to construct a thousand Oslo flats. This is a pitch-black, well-observed satire about the near future.
Bad Behavior
Corrie Chen (Director), with Jana McKinnon and Markella Kavenagh, Yerin ha, Erana Jam, Melissa Kahraman| with Jana McKinnon, Markella Kavenagh, Yerin Ha, Erana James, Melissa Kahraman
Australia 2023
Berlinale Series | International premiere | Broadcaster: Stan | 2/4 episodes
The Silver Creek boarding school in the Australian Outback is a place where girls are left alone in their free time. This series tells the compelling and uncompromising story of how the need to belong can set off a cruel dynamic.
Dahaad (Roar) with Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah, Sohum Shah| with Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah, Sohum Shah
India 2023
Berlinale Series | World premiere | 2/8 episodes
Rajasthan is witnessing a wave of women disappearing in their absence, and no one seems to be surprised. Anjali Bhaati, police officer, sees a similarity between the cases. Long nightly phone calls and a boyfriend no one in their neighborhood has ever seen.
The Good Mothers
with Gaia Girace, Valentina Belle, Barbara Chichiarelli, Simona Distefano, Micaela Ramazzotti| with Gaia Girace, Valentina Bellè, Barbara Chichiarelli, Simona Distefano, Micaela Ramazzotti
United Kingdom / Italy 2023
2/6 episodes| World premiere | Broadcaster: Disney+ | 2/6 episodes
Denise’s mother disappears without a trace, quite literally before her eyes. Her mafia boss Carlo Costo had been convicted of her testimony years ago. Denise becomes a key ally for a prosecutor who wants to destroy this system from the inside.
Spy/Master
by Adina Sădeanu, Kirsten Peters (Creator), Christopher Smith (Director) | with Alec Secăreanu, Parker Sawyers, Svenja Jung, Ana Ularu, Laurențiu Bănescu
Romania / Germany 2023
Berlinale Series | World premiere | Broadcaster: HBO Max, Warner TV Serie | 2/6 episodes
In 1978, a top-ranking Eastern Bloc spy defected and settled in the West. Creators Adina Sădeanu and Kirsten Peters use this as a starting point for a game of spy poker between the CIA, Securitate, KGB and Stasi in which no one puts their cards on the table.
Why Not Change Me Now?
Yu Gong (Creator), Xiaohui Wang(Showrunner), Dalei Zhang [Director] | with Zijian Dong, Qing Hai, Tian Qiu, Baoshi Dong, Chen Zhang
People’s Republic of China 2023
Berlinale Series | International premiere | Broadcaster: iQIYI, Inc | 2/6 episodes
A series of murders rocked a slum in north-eastern China’s 1990s. Dalei Zhang, winner of a Silver Bear in 2021, adapts the award-winning novel “Moses on the Plain” by Xuetao Shuang with precision and poetry.
Berlinale Series Market Picks 2023
1985
Belgium
Creator: Willem Wallyn
Showrunners: Peter Bouckaert, Gunter Schmid
Director: Wouter Bouvijn
with Tijmen Govaerts, Mona Mina Leon, Aimé Claeys
Production company: Eyeworks Films & TV Drama
Broadcaster: VRT, RTBF
World Sales: STUDIOCANAL
1985 tells the story of the brutal crime spree that decimated Belgium in the 1980s. Through relatable protagonists, we follow the youths trying to make things right. We share doubts with them.
À propos d’Antoine (About Antoine)
Canada
Creator: Cathleen Rouleau
Director: Podz
with Cathleen Rouleau, Antoine Parent-Bédard, Claude Legault
ComediHa Production Company!
Broadcaster: Club illico, TVA (Quebecor)
World Sales: Contact ComediHa Distribution
About Antoine focuses attention on authenticity, sensitivity, humour, and a rare theme in fiction: living with a multi-handicapped kid. This show provides a glimpse into the day-to-day life of a family with special needs, including all its quirks, highs and lows.
The Ark
USA / Serbia
Creators: Dean Devlin, Jonathan Glassner
Showrunners: Jonathan Glassner and Dean Devlin
Directors: Dean Devlin, Milan Todorović
Reece Ritchie, Richard Fleeshman and Christie Burke
Production Companies: Electric Entertainment and Balkanic Media
Broadcaster: NBCUniversal
Electric Entertainment: World Sales
On a planetary colonization mission to save humankind, the remaining crew of spacecraft “Ark One” fights to survive after a catastrophic event causes massive destruction and loss of life-sustaining supplies.
Brown
India
Creators: Suri Gopalan, Abheek Barua
Director: AbhinayDeo
Surya Sharma and Soni Razdan with Karisma Kapoor & Karisma Kapoor
Zee Studios is a production company
Zee Studios – World Sales
Rita Brown, a suicidal alcoholic, and Arjun Sinha a widower with survivor’s guilt, must push their personal demons aside to find a serial killer whose belief in his divine purpose makes him unstoppable.
Cuba Libre
Portugal
Creator: Henrique Oliveira
Showrunner: Henrique Oliveira
Director: Henrique Oliveira
Beatrix Godhino. Pierre Kiwitt. Margarida marinho
Hop! Production Company Films
Broadcaster RTP
World Sales: Keshet International
This extraordinary true story is set against the Cold War political backdrop. It tells the incredible story of Ana Maria Silva Pais a young Portuguese lady who gave her life for Che Guevara’s revolution in Cuba and Che Guevara.
Donkerbos
South Africa
Creator: Nico Scheepers
Director: Nico Scheepers
With Erica Wessels and Wilhelm van der Walt. Thoko Ntshinga
Nagvlug Films, Production Company
Broadcaster: Multichoice/Showmax
Multichoice World Sales
A child’s severed head is discovered in the forests outside the town of Donkerbos, throwing the local police department into disarray. Detective Fanie Van Wyk, who fled Pretoria after being charged with a horrific murder, is leading the investigation.
Handen på Hjärtat (Out of Touch)
Sweden
Creator: Mikael Ljung
Showrunners: Lina Åström, Marja Nyberg
Director: Lina Åström
Hannes Fohlin and Sara Shirpey
Production company: Breakable Films
Broadcaster C More
Reinvent International Sales: World Sales
Emma is a highly successful couple therapist. However, her on-point guidance in relationships is not based on her education. It comes from a supernatural talent. Emma herself has sworn off love long ago – until she meets John.
Kuppel 16 (Dome 16)
Norway
Creator: Thomas Seeberg Torjussen
Director: Thomas Seeberg Torjussen
Johannes Blumenthal with Flo Fagerli, Edith Haagenrud – Sande
Production company: Tordenfilm Norway
Broadcaster NRK
Global Screen: World Sales
120 years later, Anton, 14, and Emma, 14, will be living in different climate zones within one city. They never intended to meet and they certainly didn’t fall in love. However, when they do meet, they have to turn their worlds around and be together.
Nordland 99
Denmark
Creator: Kasper Møller Rask
Showrunners: Iben Søtang, Anni Faurbye Fernandez
Director: Kasper Møller Rask
Troels Lyby, Emilie Kroyer Koppel and Elias Budde Christensen
Production company: Nevis Productions
Broadcaster
World Sales: DR sales
A young man disappears in 1999 without any trace. His friends and sister worry that something is amiss and they search for him to uncover terrifying secrets about the small community where he lives.
Pad (The Fall).
Serbia
Based on the autobiographical book by Žarko Laušević
Director: Bojan Vuletić
with Milan Marić, Andjela Jovanović, Milica Janevski
Production Company: Firefly Productions
Broadcaster: Superstar TV
Firefly Productions: World Sales
Having become the culprit of a double homicide, a popular actor ends up in a notorious prison where rules apply, extremely different to those in ‘”the outside world”.
Poemas Malditos (Cursed Poems)
Chile
Creators: Paula del Fierro, Enrique Videla, Miguel Angel Rodríguez
Showrunner: Juan Ignacio Sabatini
Directors: Pepa San Martin, Juan Ignacio Sabatini
with Paula Luchsinguer, Consuelo Carreño, Gonzalo Valenzuela
Production company: Villano
World Sales: Mega Global Entertainment
A witchcraft-torn woman, a young girl possessed by the devil and two women who live in secret love, and a man who begins a massacre. A period thriller with four thrilling stories.
Schnee (Snow).
Austria and Germany
Creator: Michaela Taschek
Barbara Albert
Directors: Catalina Molina, Esther Rauch
Robert Stadlober, Brigitte Hobmeier and Marie-Luise Stainger
Production companies: Primary Pictures, in co-production and X-Filme Production with Beta Film, Mestiere Cinema in co-production, BR, NDR, in collaboration avec ARTE.
Broadcaster: ORF. BR. NDR. ARTE.
World Sales: Beta Film
A thriller mystery set in the climate crisis era. It features a terrifying scenario at its center: What if Nature finally demands respect? Mother must let go of her rational worldviews to save her daughter.
Traitor
Israel
Creator: Asaph Polonsky
Showrunners: Amit Cohen, Ron Leshem
Director: Asaph Polonsky
With Lior Ashkenazi Or Zehavi, Niv Sultan
WestEnd Films Production Company
Broadcaster
WestEnd Films – World Sales
A new series of thrillers is coming from the creators of Euphoria, False Flag and others. When a flight from Tel Aviv to India vanishes in mid-air, a blind intelligence officer is brought in to investigate, as his family is among the plane’s passengers.
Trolių ferma (Troll Farm)
Lithuania
Creators: Domantė Urmonaitė, Martynas Mendelis, Gabija Siurbytė, Ernestas Jankauskas
Showrunner: Gabija Siurbytė
Director: Ernestas Jankauskas
with Gabija Siurbytė, Valentinas Krulikovskis, Andrius Paulavičius
Production company: Dansu Films
Broadcaster: Lithuanian National Television and Radio. TeliaPlay+
Worldwide Sales: Dansu Films
After being wrongly fired, corporate diva Ana struggles to clear her name, while slowly embracing the dark side of revenge and becoming the monster she’s fighting.
The Way Home
USA and Canada
Creators: Marly Reed, Heather Conkie, Alexandra Clarke
Showrunners: Heather Conkie, Alexandra Clarke
Directors: Grant Harvey, Nimisha Mukerji, Shamim Sharif, Norma Bailey
with Chyler Leigh, Sadie Laflamme-Snow, Andie MacDowell
Production Companies: Hallmark Media and Neshama Entertainment, in association with MarVista Entertainment
Broadcaster for Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Media: World Sales
A family drama with a time travel twist, The Way Home follows three generations of Landry women as they reunite and begin to heal from their family’s mysterious past when their youngest member finds herself on an unexpected journey.
Zwei Seiten des Abgrunds (Two Sides of the Abysss)
Germany
Creator: Kristin Derfler
Director: Anno Saul
with Anne Ratte Polle, Anton Dreger, Lea van Acken
Production Company: Warner Bros. ITVP Germany
Broadcaster: RTL+. Warner TV Serie. HBOmax
After six years in prison, the young man who killed her daughter is released. Luise Berg, a police officer, sets off a series of events that leads to an unavoidable catastrophe for her and her other child.
Co-Pro Series 2023: Selected Projects
In alphabetical order of production companies that present them
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The Island (Writer: Nick Osborne; Director: tba), Black Camel Pictures & All3Media International, United Kingdom
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Totonero (Creator/Director: Emanuele Scaringi), Fandango, Italy
-
Export only (Creator/Director: Cristina Iliescu), microFILM, Romania
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Decibel (Creator/Writer: Nicolás Britos; Director: Pablo Agüero), Mil Monos, Argentina
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Earthbound (Writer: Harris Goldberg; Director: tba), Pixcom, Canada & ZDF Studios, Germany
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My First Family (Creators/Head Writers: Maya Zaydman & Ori Sivan; Director: Randa Chahoud), Razor Film Produktion, Germany
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Tipping Point (Head Writer: Brendan Foley; Director: AJ Annila), ReelMedia, Finland & Maipo Film, Norway
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The Acid Clinic (Creator: Jens Dahl; Writers: Jens Dahl, Dorte Warnøe Høgh & Adam August; Director: tba), SAM Productions & Asta Film, Denmark
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The Chauffeur’s Son (Creators: Isaki Lacuesta, Isabel Campo & Cristóbal Garrido; Director: Isaki Lacuesta), Zeta Studios, Spain
Partner with Series Mania to create a project
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Family Stories A Boy Disappears (Creator: Julie Budtz Sørensen; Director: tba), Nimbus Film, Denmark
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