Two buzzy Balkan series were under the spotlight this week at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where local creatives dished on their recipe for turning regional stories into potential breakout hits.
Sunday night saw the red-carpet regional premiere of “Operation Sabre,” a Serbian crime drama that premiered in Canneseries’ Long Form Competition this year. The show, about the 2003 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, is created and directed by Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić.
Snezana van Houwelingen, who produced the series for Belgrade-based This and That Productions, in co-production with Martichka Bozhilova (Agitprop) for Radio Television of Serbia, said that the creators were thinking about global audiences from the moment they began developing the script.
“From the very beginning, we believed this story had international potential, even if it was a very local event and it takes place in Serbia,” she said. “Everything we did during the development process was...
Sunday night saw the red-carpet regional premiere of “Operation Sabre,” a Serbian crime drama that premiered in Canneseries’ Long Form Competition this year. The show, about the 2003 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, is created and directed by Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić.
Snezana van Houwelingen, who produced the series for Belgrade-based This and That Productions, in co-production with Martichka Bozhilova (Agitprop) for Radio Television of Serbia, said that the creators were thinking about global audiences from the moment they began developing the script.
“From the very beginning, we believed this story had international potential, even if it was a very local event and it takes place in Serbia,” she said. “Everything we did during the development process was...
- 8/20/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Killer Films producer Christine Vachon, Mubi’s chief content officer Jason Ropell, and Fatih Abay, diversity and inclusion officer at the European Film Academy are among the international speakers heading to the industry programme of this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), taking place until July 8 in the Czech Republic.
The recently restored Imperial Spa will house the entire industry programme. It’s wood-panelled interiors will host the Industry Days’ Eastern Promises for four days of project pitches, talks, events, and workshops as well as the Film Industry Office and Lounge. There is an afternoon forum dedicated to...
The recently restored Imperial Spa will house the entire industry programme. It’s wood-panelled interiors will host the Industry Days’ Eastern Promises for four days of project pitches, talks, events, and workshops as well as the Film Industry Office and Lounge. There is an afternoon forum dedicated to...
- 6/28/2024
- ScreenDaily
Fockers who? Meet “The Zweiflers” instead: Brand new winners of Canneseries.
Created and showrun by David Hadda, the show picked up multiple awards at the French TV fest on Wednesday, including best series and music. Selected as a Variety Hot Pick earlier this month, “it’s destined to be billed as a Jewish ‘Succession’ set in contemporary Germany, with all the baggage that can bring to the table, Variety wrote.
That being said, its creator had another dysfunctional family on his mind.
“My biggest influence was ‘The Sopranos’ and I always said I wanted to do a Jewish ‘Sopranos’! The idea was to change the narrative from the victims’ perspective in Germany to a Jewish patriarch and Holocaust survivor who had lost everything – and everyone, and then came back to rebuild his life. That was empowering for me,” said Hadda.
Produced by Turbokultur for Ard Degeto Film and Hessischer Rundfunk,...
Created and showrun by David Hadda, the show picked up multiple awards at the French TV fest on Wednesday, including best series and music. Selected as a Variety Hot Pick earlier this month, “it’s destined to be billed as a Jewish ‘Succession’ set in contemporary Germany, with all the baggage that can bring to the table, Variety wrote.
That being said, its creator had another dysfunctional family on his mind.
“My biggest influence was ‘The Sopranos’ and I always said I wanted to do a Jewish ‘Sopranos’! The idea was to change the narrative from the victims’ perspective in Germany to a Jewish patriarch and Holocaust survivor who had lost everything – and everyone, and then came back to rebuild his life. That was empowering for me,” said Hadda.
Produced by Turbokultur for Ard Degeto Film and Hessischer Rundfunk,...
- 4/10/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Canneseries entry “Operation Sabre” goes back in time to Serbia’s very own Kennedy moment: the day when its first democratically elected Pm, Zoran Đinđić, was murdered.
“Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the assassination. This moment didn’t just change our politics. It changed our lives,” says producer Snezana van Houwelingen.
“He was in power for more than two years and during that time, many people actually moved back from abroad. It was our last moment of hope. Now, we are just going in circles and there is no progress. We have to do something for the next generation, the one that doesn’t even remember him anymore.”
Đinđić, who served as Pm from 2001, was killed in 2003 – one year after the beginning of the trial against former president Slobodan Milošević.
“He played such an important role in this country’s crucial moments.
“Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the assassination. This moment didn’t just change our politics. It changed our lives,” says producer Snezana van Houwelingen.
“He was in power for more than two years and during that time, many people actually moved back from abroad. It was our last moment of hope. Now, we are just going in circles and there is no progress. We have to do something for the next generation, the one that doesn’t even remember him anymore.”
Đinđić, who served as Pm from 2001, was killed in 2003 – one year after the beginning of the trial against former president Slobodan Milošević.
“He played such an important role in this country’s crucial moments.
- 4/8/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The creative team behind Canneseries competition show Operation Sabre wanted to tell a “bigger truth” through their drama about the assassination of Serbia’s first pro-democracy prime minister, an event that remains raw in the public psyche.
No undertaking to tell the story of the killing of Zoran Đinđić in 2003 had been taken via TV drama, they told Deadline in the week leading up to the Cannes confab, and so they wanted to use scripted narrative devices to go beyond just this single event for the show being distributed by German major Beta Films.
“Our main narrative device was creating these fictional characters and through them we told a story that is a bigger truth – not just the factual truth – of who we are as a society, why this was happening and the choices the characters were making,” said co-creator Goran Stankovic. “Having these characters helped us tell a...
No undertaking to tell the story of the killing of Zoran Đinđić in 2003 had been taken via TV drama, they told Deadline in the week leading up to the Cannes confab, and so they wanted to use scripted narrative devices to go beyond just this single event for the show being distributed by German major Beta Films.
“Our main narrative device was creating these fictional characters and through them we told a story that is a bigger truth – not just the factual truth – of who we are as a society, why this was happening and the choices the characters were making,” said co-creator Goran Stankovic. “Having these characters helped us tell a...
- 4/8/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Beta Film has acquired international distribution rights to Serbian crime thriller “Operation Sabre” (“Sablja”) about the assassination of the Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić.
The eight-hour series – selected for Canneseries’ Long Form Competition – is created and directed by Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić. The duo already collaborated on “Morning Changes Everything” and wrote the new show alongside Dejan Prćić, Maja Pelević and Marjan Alčevs.
Heading back to March 12, 2003, Stanković and Tagić show the aftermath of the killing that threw the whole country into chaos – only one year after the beginning of the trial against former president Slobodan Milošević, indicted in 1999 for war crimes.
Đinđić, who served as Pm from 2001, following a stint as mayor of Belgrade, advocated pro-democratic reforms. He was also one of the co-leaders of the opposition to Milošević’s administration.
“Operation Sabre” is produced by Snezana van Houwelingen for This and That Productions, in co-production with Martichka Bozhilova...
The eight-hour series – selected for Canneseries’ Long Form Competition – is created and directed by Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić. The duo already collaborated on “Morning Changes Everything” and wrote the new show alongside Dejan Prćić, Maja Pelević and Marjan Alčevs.
Heading back to March 12, 2003, Stanković and Tagić show the aftermath of the killing that threw the whole country into chaos – only one year after the beginning of the trial against former president Slobodan Milošević, indicted in 1999 for war crimes.
Đinđić, who served as Pm from 2001, following a stint as mayor of Belgrade, advocated pro-democratic reforms. He was also one of the co-leaders of the opposition to Milošević’s administration.
“Operation Sabre” is produced by Snezana van Houwelingen for This and That Productions, in co-production with Martichka Bozhilova...
- 3/12/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Max has acquired Central and Eastern Europe rights to “I Know Your Soul,” the crime drama series by Oscar-nominated Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić. The show, which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival, is currently playing as part of the Agora Series TV strand of the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Also included in the deal, which was brokered by Munich-based production and distribution outfit Beta Film, is the Serbian thriller “Children of Evil,” based on the best-selling novel by Miodrag Majić.
Further negotiations with key European buyers are underway for both shows.
“I Know Your Soul” is a six-episode limited series, written, directed and produced by Žbanić, who also serves as showrunner. The cast is led by European Film Award-winning actor Jasna Đuričić, who plays Nevena Murtezic, a prosecutor in the process of divorce and single mother to a teenage son. The case of an adolescent’s suicide triggers an...
Also included in the deal, which was brokered by Munich-based production and distribution outfit Beta Film, is the Serbian thriller “Children of Evil,” based on the best-selling novel by Miodrag Majić.
Further negotiations with key European buyers are underway for both shows.
“I Know Your Soul” is a six-episode limited series, written, directed and produced by Žbanić, who also serves as showrunner. The cast is led by European Film Award-winning actor Jasna Đuričić, who plays Nevena Murtezic, a prosecutor in the process of divorce and single mother to a teenage son. The case of an adolescent’s suicide triggers an...
- 11/7/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
New projects from Cherien Dabis, Anders Thomas Jensen and Ameer Fakher Eldin have also been awarded
Ariane Labed’s feature-directing debut Sisters is among the 33 projects to receive funding from Eurimages second wave of 2023 co-production funding.
The French-Greek actor’s feature directing debut received €350,000 from the €9.7m pot. The Ireland, UK, Germany and Greece co-production is produced by Ireland’s Element Pictures. An English-language adaptation of Daisy Johnson’s gothic novel of the same name it follows two sisters who move to the countryside with their maniac depressive mother. Labed previously directed short film Olla which won three awards at...
Ariane Labed’s feature-directing debut Sisters is among the 33 projects to receive funding from Eurimages second wave of 2023 co-production funding.
The French-Greek actor’s feature directing debut received €350,000 from the €9.7m pot. The Ireland, UK, Germany and Greece co-production is produced by Ireland’s Element Pictures. An English-language adaptation of Daisy Johnson’s gothic novel of the same name it follows two sisters who move to the countryside with their maniac depressive mother. Labed previously directed short film Olla which won three awards at...
- 7/4/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Croatia’s Drugi Plan and Bulgaria’s Agitprop, two of the leading production outfits in Southeast Europe, have been attached to co-produce the upcoming drama series “Sabre,” a political thriller revolving around the 2003 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic produced by Belgrade-based This and That Productions.
Created by Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić, the series will star Serbian-Danish actress Danica Curcic, known to international audiences for her lead role in the Netflix psychological thriller “The Chestnut Man,” as a reporter investigating the shocking murder.
The companies announced the deal on Monday at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where This and That’s “Bad Blood” and Drugi Plan’s “The Silence” were among the top Balkan drama series vying for Heart of Sarajevo TV Awards, which were handed out at a ceremony in the Bosnian capital on Sunday night.
“Sabre” was first pitched in Sarajevo three years ago during the CineLink Drama co-financing forum,...
Created by Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić, the series will star Serbian-Danish actress Danica Curcic, known to international audiences for her lead role in the Netflix psychological thriller “The Chestnut Man,” as a reporter investigating the shocking murder.
The companies announced the deal on Monday at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where This and That’s “Bad Blood” and Drugi Plan’s “The Silence” were among the top Balkan drama series vying for Heart of Sarajevo TV Awards, which were handed out at a ceremony in the Bosnian capital on Sunday night.
“Sabre” was first pitched in Sarajevo three years ago during the CineLink Drama co-financing forum,...
- 8/15/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Mina Djukic’s film wins best film, director and actress in National Class; Free Entry by Hungary’s Yvonne Kerekgyarto gets Cineuropa Award in Fresh Danube Film section.
The seventh Cinema City international film festival, which took place June 21-28 in Novi Sad, Serbia, wrapped with Mina Djukic’s Sundance title The Disobedient winning the Ibis Statuettes for best film, best directing and best female role for Hana Selimovic in the National Class, dedicated to Serbian films.
The best male role award went to Muhamed Dupovac for Slobodan Skerlic’s So Hot Was The Cannon.
The jury consisting of Wide Management’s Managing Director Loic Magneron, official delegate for Cannes Critics’ Week and Programme Consultant for the Hong Kong International Film Festival Raymond Phathanavirangoon, and Peter Stumbur, a programmer for Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, also gave out two special mentions: to Milan Todorovic’s horror title Nymph, and Dragan Nikolic’s documentary The Undertaker.
The Fipresci...
The seventh Cinema City international film festival, which took place June 21-28 in Novi Sad, Serbia, wrapped with Mina Djukic’s Sundance title The Disobedient winning the Ibis Statuettes for best film, best directing and best female role for Hana Selimovic in the National Class, dedicated to Serbian films.
The best male role award went to Muhamed Dupovac for Slobodan Skerlic’s So Hot Was The Cannon.
The jury consisting of Wide Management’s Managing Director Loic Magneron, official delegate for Cannes Critics’ Week and Programme Consultant for the Hong Kong International Film Festival Raymond Phathanavirangoon, and Peter Stumbur, a programmer for Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, also gave out two special mentions: to Milan Todorovic’s horror title Nymph, and Dragan Nikolic’s documentary The Undertaker.
The Fipresci...
- 6/30/2014
- ScreenDaily
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