Two Norwegian series, A Better Man and Nepobaby, won the top prizes at this year’s Canneseries, which wrapped its eighth edition on Tuesday (April 29).
A Better Man, about a misogynistic internet troll who must hide in women’s clothing after hackers expose his identity, was named best series from the eight global titles in contention, with star Anders Baasmo also winning the best performance prize. It also won the student award for best series.
Beta Film is handling international distribution.
Nepobaby, about an average girl who finds out she is the heiress to one of Norway’s wealthiest shipping dynasty families, won prizes for best screenplay and a special performance prize for its ensemble cast.
Oble handles global sales and Nordisk Film has Nordic distribution for the series produced by Eldorado Content Club set to air on TV2 Norway.
A third Norwegian series, The Agent – The Life And Lies Of My Father, won the best documentary award.
Belgium’s Oh, Otto! won best short-form series and the student award in the same category.
Junoh Lee won the award for best music for South Korean series S Line, produced and sold by Sidus.
Attendance rise
In its first year without the now-defunct parallel MIP TV market, Canneseries aimed to deliver a standalone event complete with integrated industry programme. Organisers said attendance on the festival side had risen 10% compared to last year’s edition.
The industry activity featured the already established Canneseries Writers Club and Producers Club that brings together commissioners, producers, distributors and streamers, plus a new casting club and composers club.
“Our industry programme is a boutique event where high-end international professionals can meet for quality encounters, not back-to-back meetings from day to night,” said the festival’s artistic director Albin Lewi.
Canneseries’ managing director Benoit Louvet added: “We are not a market. The industry programme is completely integrated into the festival – there is a real synergy between the two. The artistic direction team also curates the industry programme – they are one and the same, and that is our difference.”
This year’s programme featured masterclasses and panels with executives including The Bureau creator Eric Rochant, Severance and House Of Cards’ Beau Willimon, and Doctor Who and Succession producer Jane Tranter.
Referencing France’s other TV industry events, Thomas Anargyros, president of Mediawan France, Scripted, said: “Series Mania and Mipcom have a similar intensity, namely we have meetings every half hour with partners from all over the world, at Canneseries, the atmosphere is totally different – there is more time for conversation with the talents.”
Mediawan’s Canneseries projects included Max’s family drama Malditos in competition, Canal+’s mafia thriller The Corsican Line out of competition, the second season of Prime Video’s Escort Boys, and closing night series The Count Of Monte-Cristo.
Helen Perquy, producer at Banijay-owned Belgian scripted production house jonnydepony who produced out of competition series The Big Fuck-Up, said: “Canneseries is one of the few opportunities when we can see the response of an audience to what we’ve made and celebrate all aspects of the art of making series, not just on-screen talent, but producers, showrunners and writers.”
This year’s event premiered The Corsican Line and The Agency from longtime event partner Canal+, as well as titles from major streamers including Paramount+ spy thriller The Agency and J.J. Abrams’ 1970s crime thriller Duster.
The international talent in town included Jeffrey Dean Morgan for AMC’s The Walking Dead: Dead City, Sam Claflin and Billie August for The Count Of Monte-Cristo, the cast of Canal+ original creation The Bureau including star Mathieu Kassovitz to celebrate the series’ 10th anniversary, and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan who received the festival’s “commitment” prize.
The festival’s ninth edition will run April 23-28, 2026. “It will be bigger next year with an expanded industry programme complete with more clubs linked to other industry professions,” said Louvet. ”This was a first for us and the test run was a success.”
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