French television festival Series Mania has announced the lineup for its 2021 event, which will run in Lille from Aug. 26 – Sept. 2.
The selection includes world premieres of some of the most hotly-anticipated international series this year, including Kamikaze, the first Danish original from HBO Max; buzzy Israeli shows Jerusalem and The Echo of Your Voice; and Furia, a Norwegian-German crime drama about a police officer who goes undercover in a neo-Nazi group, from Babylon Berlin producers X Filme and Norway’s Monster Scripted (Noble).
Also picked for this year’s competition lineup are Sky Italia’s Anna, French-Italian literary epic Germinal, Icelandic drug-smuggling drama Blackport and Hamlet, a Turkish drama from producers Gain Medya.
Israeli showrunner Hagai Levi (Our Boys, The Affair) will head up the international jury that picks this year’s grand prize winner for best series, as well as the prizes for best actress and best actor.
BBC series Virgil, a thriller starring Lorne MacFadyen, Lolita Chakrabarti, Adam James and Suranne Jones, will open 2021’s Series Mania with its international premiere.
Several U.S. series, including the AMC dramedy Kevin Can F**k Himself with Annie Murphy, and Peacock’s true-crime thriller Dr. Death with Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater, Carrie Preston and Joshua Jackson, will have their French premieres at the festival.
Special screenings this year include On the Verge, the English-language Netflix-Canal Plus comedy series directed by, and starring, Julie Delpy, revolving around a group of 40-something women grappling with being single in Los Angeles.
