Behind the scenes of sport, sensational criminal cases, historical sagas, etc. Documentary series are flooding the screens. And make more and more hitches. Regularly present in the top of the most watched video on demand services, they now also have the honors of the CanneSeries festival.
The sixth edition of the event, organized from April 14 to 19, will award the very first prize for the best production of the genre. In addition to the categories rewarding fiction, in short and long format. A jury specially composed and chaired by Asif Kapadia, Oscar for best documentary film in 2016 for Amywill be on the move, announced the organizers, who have selected six series in competition.
Slaughter, disgraced king and disaster
“At the launch of the festival [en 2018]they were submitted to us at the margin, then their volume exploded”, explains to 20 minutes Albin Lewi, the artistic director of the event. Of the 300 series sent to its teams for this 2023 edition, 70 were documentaries. “In recent years, we were looking for a way to integrate them into the festival. But they became so important that we thought they deserved a dedicated section. It made more sense. »
For this first attempt, the artistic team of CanneSeries offered a varied choice to its jurors. An investigation into the killing of Chevaline, Juan Carlos: Downfall of a Playboy King which looks back on the fall of the former king of Spain or even a story around the rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic, in Canada, are notably on the program. Draw for change!, Miracle No. 71 And Reading again Mafalda complete the selection.
An even stronger addiction
“Documentary series are getting richer and richer. It is a genre in its own right and which differs from a unitary one thanks to a real narrative complexity, notes Albin Lewi again. It does not tell a thing in a linear way. There are time jumps, structures that can be different in each episode. Essential, these series devour each other as much as those of fiction. This is evidenced by the recent successes of true crimes on Netflix. Mini-series that return and investigate key miscellaneous events. “There may even be an even stronger addiction,” he continues. We want to go to the end. They take to the guts by telling things of today and yesterday. Some tell us about little-known parts of history, others defend today’s battles”.
The first episodes of Tour de France: at the heart of the pelotona new sports documentary series from Netflix, and Why we fighton the melting ice, will also be presented in preview and out of competition.