Titles of Flemish fiction series announced for the international 'Serial Killer Festival’ in Brno
From 21 to 26 September 2021
22 June 2021
June 22, 2021- The Serial Killer Festival in Brno in the Czech Republic is a European festival exclusively dedicated to international top-class series for television and online. Serial Killer has quickly gained a quality label as a forum for outstanding fiction. Every year, Serial Killer focuses on a country with high-profile and trendsetting fiction. This year Belgian fiction is in the spotlight with a selection of the best series from the VRT, DPG, SBS and RTBF.
Belgian fiction in the spotlight
In the 'Focus section', the Serial Killer Festival presents a representative picture of what our country has to offer in the field of innovative fiction series with 'The best of Belgium'.
Albatros (VRT- De Wereldvrede), Gevoel voor Tumor (VRT- Sylvester) , Beau Sejour 2 (VRT- De Mensen /Column Film/ Gardner and Domm ) , Clan (DPG), Red Light (DPG), De Dag , Callboys (SBS) will be presented and explained by the Belgian makers to a new and international audience. RTBF will also present a series.
The Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF) /Flanders Image is helping to support the initiative. The Flemish media minister Benjamin Dalle will be a guest at the festival to emphasize the importance of our fiction and to support the programme makers.
Serial Killer: a festival with a unique mission
Serial Killer aims to promote top-quality drama from across Europe and build bridges between creators from all regions. The festival thus forms a platform for cross-border collaboration and new projects. It offers an international programme for the professional media sector, but also for the public. Due to the corona crisis, this year the Serial Killer Festival will once again take place in a hybrid form, namely partly in the city of Brno, partly online.
Elly Vervloet, international drama expert for VRT and drama coordinator for the EBU: "I am very happy and honoured that Belgian drama has been chosen as the focus for the 2021 Serial Killer Festival. In my opinion, Serial Killer is a festival with an important mission, namely to bridge the gap between Eastern and Western Europe and to inspire creative people and point out the importance of quality fiction to policy makers. Original stories and strong dramaturgy are always at the forefront of their choices and the festival is not prepared to make any compromises. It is this that makes Serial Killer such a quality-driven, independent festival. And now the spotlight is on Belgian drama. A success we owe to the creativity of our makers and a strong, structural cooperation between VRT and the Flemish production sector.I really hope it will be a celebration of inspiration, great encounters with makers, a sharing of knowledge and learning from each other, and who knows, of a new collaboration with Central and Eastern Europe.
Kamila Zlatušková, CEO and founder of Serial Killer: In recent years, Belgian fiction has come to the fore, following the example of Scandinavian drama. Belgian fiction always convinces with its unique authentic style and storytelling. We are very proud that we can fully show this at our festival. We want to inspire makers from all over Europe with our ground-breaking Belgian work and show that you can make internationally renowned fiction with limited budgets, from a small area.
Benjamin Dalle, Flemish Minister for Brussels, Youth and Media: “As a small player, we can be particularly proud of the success of our production sector on the international stage. More and more countries are showing an interest in our strong fiction series. This is only possible through strong cooperation between the various production and media companies in Flanders. Not only do we belong technically speaking to the world top, there is also world talent in the creative field. This has not gone unnoticed: in more and more countries, Flemish fiction is appearing on TV or on the streaming platforms. The fact that we are playing such an important role at international festivals shows that Flanders has grown into an important name on the international stage. The VRT has an important role in this: it must invest in new talent and can thus be a catalyst to further strengthen our media landscape.”
Walter Iuzzolino, producer, curator and co-founder of Walter Presents (Channel 4): “The Belgians excel at making beautiful, premium, impeccably crafted series on relatively modest budgets, and they have a unique ability to mix and blend genres in a way that is almost unthinkable outside of Belgium. Their thrillers can be surprisingly funny, bleak, comedic and sometimes surreal. And their comedies can be powerfully emotive, dangerous and heart breaking. Quirky playfulness and an ability to subvert genres is part of their artistic and intellectual DNA, and this is one of the key reasons why their titles are so unique and appealing.”
.jpg "Elly Vervloet, International drama executive of Flemish VRT on Serial Killer 2019")
About the VRT series
Albatros is a tragicomic fiction series about ten obese people in the Ardennes. From the very beginning, it turns out that the participants of the "Albatros" weight loss camp are carrying excess pounds not only physically, but also emotionally. It soon gets intense. The participants are physically challenged by a less subtle coach. But the group therapist also looks into their souls and tries to get them out of their comfort zone. One by one the protective layers with which they have kept the outside world and their past at bay, are removed. Until it turns out that the formerly obese inspirer of the camp, whom they all look up to, cannot be trusted and carries a dark secret with him. Albatros is a production of De Wereldvrede for Canvas.
In the mystery Beau Séjour 2 series, former naval officer Maurice Teirlinck, who is dead, investigates his own death to find out exactly what happened. Did he really commit suicide? Maurice wants to find out why he still wanders the earth and cannot rest in peace. Is he still here for a reason? Beau Séjour 2 is a production of De Mensen for Eén, in co-production with Column Film and Gardner and Domm.
Gevoel voor tumor is a tragicomic series about Tristan Devriendt, a 25-year-old medical student who enjoys life to the full. Tristan is suddenly told the terrible news that he has cancer. Ambitious dreams are abruptly interrupted and give way to a life and death struggle. Tristan, his family and friends find themselves in a confusing clash of emotions with humour and love as unexpected side effects. Gevoel voor tumor is a production of Sylvester for Eén.
The VRT-series were supported by VAF- Flanders Image /Mediafonds.
Further practical and substantive information about the Serial Killer Festival will follow in the course of the summer.