Israeli series to take part in France’s ‘Series Mania’ contest

The prestigious French television competition, Series Mania, just announced its lineup for 2023 and several Israeli series will have a strong presence at the event, which will be held in Lille from March 17-24.

Israeli series have done extremely well at this competition in the past – the series His Honor and On the Spectrum, both of which were later remade in the US, won the Grand Prize in the international competition there in 2017 and 2018, and many other series from Israel have won other prizes – so this competition is closely watched here. 

Yehuda Levi, who won best actor here for his performance in Rama Burshtein’s Fire Dance last year, is a member of the international jury this year.

Which Israeli series will take part in Series Mania?

A series from Reshet, Red Skies, will take part in the international competition. Based on the bestselling novel by Daniel Shinar, it tells the story of two men, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who meet at a peace camp as children and then find themselves on opposite sides during the Second Intifada.

Shinar co-created the series, along with Ron Leshem, Daniel Amsel and Amit Cohen, all of whom collaborated on the Yom Kippur War series, Valley of Tears. It stars Amir Khoury (Image of Victory) and Maor Schwitzer (Valley of Tears).

The international panorama competition includes two Israeli series. A Body that Works (Gush Shlishi in Hebrew), from Keshet, is premiering on Channel 12 in Israel this week, about a couple having a child via a surrogate. The series stars Yehuda Levi, Rotem Sela (Lehiot Ita aka The Baker and the Beauty), Lior Raz (Fauda) and Gal Malka (Dismissed). It was created by Shira Hadad and Dror Mishani (both of whom collaborated on the series, Wisdom of the Crowd) and Shay Capon (Dumb), who also directed the series.

Innermost, a miniseries featuring intersecting stories about six strangers in Tel Aviv, by Yaron Shani, will also take part in the international panorama competition. Shani, whose 2009 movie, Ajami, was nominated for an Oscar for best international feature category, made the Love trilogy of movies, which also featured connected stories.

Innnermost was produced by Black Sheep Productions, an Israeli company founded by Naomi Levari and Saar Yogev, which previously competed in Series Mania with the psychological thriller series, Mama’s Angel, in 2016.

Transatlantic, the closing series at Series Mania, is based on the true story of Varian Fry, an American journalist who was sent to Marseille by the Emergency Rescue Committee in 1940 and helped thousands of Jews escape France. It was created by Anna Winger, who made Unorthodox.