WHAT ARE THE MOST ANTICIPATED TV SERIES? SERIAL KILLER OFFERS A SNEAK PEEK

The international festival Serial Killer will showcase the most anticipated series from Czech broadcasters and streaming platforms, alongside previews of international productions. This year, the festival will place special emphasis on productions from Iceland and the Netherlands. In addition to international titles, it will introduce a new competition section, Czech Killer, and explore the topic of ethics in audiovisual production. For the first time, audiences will also have a say in deciding the award winners. The festival will take place in Brno from 23 to 28 September.

The festival will open with previews of the comedy series Oddíl B, scheduled to premiere on the Oneplay platform in October. The series comes from Jan Prušinovský and Petr Kolečko, the creators of Most! This time, they have turned their attention to a prison setting, where the series' 20-year-old protagonist finds himself facing several years behind bars.

Meanwhile, he tells his family that he is joining the French Foreign Legion. As a newly incarcerated prisoner, he discovers the harsh rules of life in a correctional facility, forging new alliances and encountering dangerous adversaries.

The series offers a glimpse into prison life through the eyes of a man struggling to survive without losing his sense of self. The creators drew inspiration from the prison stories of Zdeněk Godla, whom viewers will remember from his role in Most!



Czech Television will compete with Hec, a six-part miniseries written and directed by Michal Samir. The protagonist of this slightly mysterious crime drama is Captain Alena Kočí, played by Petra Hřebíčková, who is drawn back to her home region near the Polish border by an unusual case.

Human remains are discovered beneath the ruins of a wooden church, and word quickly spreads through the surrounding area that a long night of partying by local teenagers has ended in tragedy. The cast also includes Juraj Loj, Stanislav Majer, Milena Steinmasslová, Jana Plodková, Jaroslav Plesl, Tomáš Jeřábek and Petr Uhlík.



Czech Television's second entry in the competition is Kamarád. Based on a true story set in a school hiking club, the series explores manipulation and the abuse of trust between an adult and an adolescent. It also examines how social systems can sometimes enable abuse in situations where they should prevent it.

The creators draw on authentic case files and testimonies but tell the story anonymously. According to the creative team, the series seeks to shed light on how a convicted teacher can return to teaching and why society is unable to prevent it.

Oneplay will also present a preview of Rekord(wo)man, which will compete in the Czech Killer section. Directed by Dan Wlodarczyk, the series tells a story that shook not only Czechoslovak sport.

It is a story of the search for identity and profound sacrifice, following the life of record-breaking athlete Zdena Koubková, who broke world records in the 1930s, only to have those records erased a few years later as Zdena became Zdeněk. Petr Uhlík stars in the lead role.

International productions will bring crime stories and existential dramas

Among the Icelandic productions featured at the festival is Reykjavik Fusion, the first Icelandic series to be screened at Cannes. After being released from prison, chef Jonas attempts to reclaim his family and career and secure a second chance. But while his new upscale restaurant boasts a sophisticated menu, its finances are far more problematic. The series blends culinary drama with crime fiction.

A different kind of catastrophe will feature in the festival's Dutch focus. The award-winning miniseries Případ letu 1862 reconstructs the investigation into one of the worst aviation disasters in Dutch history, when a Boeing cargo plane crashed directly into a residential neighbourhood in Amsterdam. Following two investigative journalists, the story gradually uncovers questions that remain unresolved in Dutch society even thirty years later.

Iceland will also offer proof that there are many ways to deal with an existential crisis. After receiving a medical diagnosis, the protagonist of Můj pohřeb decides that it is finally time to start living life to the fullest. Along the way, he may even get to experience something most people never do: his own funeral.

This year's International Panorama section will bring together political thrillers, family comedies, hospital dramas and series that demonstrate how even a seemingly unremarkable bar in Helsinki can provide enough material for a compelling story.

The festival will also include a conference on ethics in audiovisual production. Four case studies will explore different approaches to adapting real-life events, ranging from the Norwegian series Den, který změnil Norsko (July 22) and the Swedish title Riding in Darkness to the Czech series Monyová and the upcoming Kamarád.

Source: novinky.cz