Season 6 of the Cannes International Series Festival closed its doors on Wednesday. The long format jury, chaired by Lior Raz, the creator of Faudathat of short series, co-chaired by Spanish artists Javier Calvo Guirao and Javier Ambrossi, and finally that of documentary series, chaired by Asif Kapadia, the director ofAmy, delivered their verdict. The results of this season 6 and the winners commented by the artistic director of the Riviera festival, Albin Lewi.
“We have continuously progressed, but I have rarely had the impression of having progressed as much as with this season 6. If I had been told a year ago that I would have all the platforms present, a American series in competition, Netflix’s most anticipated series, that we would launch the documentary section and that it would be a success in qualitative terms, that we would have two Oscar winners in competition, and icing on the cake: stars like Sarah Michelle Gellar, I would have signed immediately! “, welcomes Albin Lewi. And to rejoice again: “The rooms were filled and attendance increased while we are in school holidays and the weather is nice. »
A Norwegian political satire
As for the long series, the series Powerplay wins two prizes, that of the best series and that of the best music. Two well-deserved awards for this Veep with Scandinavian sauce: “The Norwegians surprise us once again. This series talks about their history and yet manages to interest us. It retraces the incredible journey of Gro Harlem Brundtland, their first Prime Minister, it speaks of male incompetence and shortcomings still relevant today. And all that, with an ultra-quirky tone,” comments Albin Lewi.
The prize for best screenplay goes to the stunning Korean series bar gain, which deals with human organ trafficking. “A metaphor for the excesses of capitalism”, summarizes for 20 minutes director Woo-Sung Jeon.
Israeli interpretation in the spotlight
Two Israeli series are also on the list. Actress Dar Zuzovsky receives the Best Performance award for her role in Corduroy “She is an actress who is talked about a lot in Israel. She plays the title character in this very beautifully filmed series of women created by filmmaker Hadas Ben Aroya. Corduroy is a raw and generational series. Dar Zuzovsky has thrown herself body and soul into this project and she is bursting the screen. She is a model and an actress and has such a natural game. What’s crazy is that she looks like Hadas, she’s sort of her on-screen alter ego,” greets the artistic director.
The special interpretation prize goes to “the troupe” of Carthago : “We created this prize because the series are often choral. Without the success of Nehama at CanneSeries, creator, screenwriter and comedian Reshef Lev couldn’t have done this crazy project that is Carthago commented Albin Lewy.
The extremism denounced in the series
Carthago tells the true story of a prison camp in the depths of Africa, where Italian fascists, Nazi spies and Jewish terrorists after the Second World War are imprisoned. Result ? A fierce political satire that denounces extremism.
As for the short series competition, the jury co-chaired by Javier Calvo Guiroa and Javier Ambrassi crowned The Left Handed Son, a series that follows Lola, a well-to-do Sevillian mother who sees her youngest son fall into the midst of a radical group. Again a fiction that warns of the dangers of extremism. “It’s the most successful series in terms of budget and production in the category, it’s a magnificent drama of a very high standard”, comments Albin Lewy.
The fight of cartoonists rewarded
“The documentary series is the great novelty of this year. We are proud to have been able to show the richness and diversity of documentary series,” recalls the artistic director. In the new section dedicated to documentaries, the jury chaired by Asif Kapadia crowned the Belgian series Draw for Change!, “a series of anthologies that paints the portrait of 6 illustrators in particular areas such as Mexico, the United States, Russia, India, Syria or even Egypt”, summarizes Albin Lewy. This documentary series chronicles their struggles, despite the challenges of censorship and the death penalty, to change their society.
An eminently political track record? “I wouldn’t necessarily have phrased it that way. In these series, politics is not tackled head-on. But today’s world is not necessarily going very well and these artists share their vision of the world and it’s really impactful. What we hope is that these series make you think, but that they are also entertaining, moving, and that the political and societal message is underlying. But everything has become political today”, concludes Albin Lewy.