Movie Channels
Series Mania announces festival winners
Mumbai: With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, Series Mania founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival, and the final number of participants on 24 March.
“We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations”, commented Herszberg.
The Winners:
International Competition:
The international jury, chaired by the American showrunner, screenwriter and producer Lisa Joy, surrounded by Emmanuelle Béart (actress, France), Anurag Kashyap (director, India), Chris Chibnall (showrunner, UK), Judah Levi (actor, Israel), Lou Doillon (singer, France), awarded 4 prizes among the 9 series presented in world or international premiere in the presence of their teams.
Grand Prize : The Actor (Iran)
Best Actress: Margot Bancilhon in Haven of Grace (France)
Best Actor: Michael Sheen in Best Interests (UK)
Best Writing: John Kâre Raake for The Fortresss (Norway)
International Panorama:
The International Panorama, presided over by the French writer Hervé Le Tellier, surrounded by Lone Korslund (Creative Director, producer, Denmark), Assa Sylla (actress, France), Hugo Bardin (actor, France), Jandiz Cardoso (Director Episodic Program, Sundance Institute, USA), Lila Byock (screenwriter, USA ) awarded 4 prizes among the 12 series presented in French, European, and world previews.
Best Series: Blackwater (Sweden)
Best Directing: Ernesto Contreras for Tengo que morir todas las noches (Mexico)
Best Actress: Rotem Sela and Gal Malka in A Body That Works (Israel)
Best Actor: Eran Naim in Innermost (Germany-Israel)
Student award for Best Series : Funny Woman (UK)
French competition:
The international press jury composed of Ariana Finos (La Repubblica, Italy), Enric Albero (El Cultural, Spain), Hanna Huge (serienjunkies.de, Germany), Adrian Hennigan (Haaretz, Israel) and Ashanti Omkar (BBC, UK) awarded 4 prizes among the 6 French series presented in World Premiere in the presence of their teams
Best Series: Under Control
Best Actress: Clémentine Célarié in Six women
Best Actor: Carel Brown in Aspergirl
Best Original Score: Maud Geffray, Rebeka Warrior for Split
Short Forms Competition:
This competition is awarded by an international jury chaired by US creator, writer and producer Sam Shaw with Madison Walsh (screenwriter, Canada), Jérémy Gillet (actor, Belgium) and Charlotte Abramow (photographer and director, Belgium).
Best Series: Autodefensa (Spain)
Comedies Competition:
Best Series by a high school students Jury of the Hauts-de-France: Rictus (France)
Public Award:
This prize is awarded to the audience’s favorite series among all the titles in competition – except for Short Formats, voted on at the end of the screenings.
Best Series: Little Bird (Canada)
With more than 3,800 participants from 64 countries, this successful and vibrant edition of Series Mania Forum brought together more international industry professionals than ever before to Lille. New participants attending for the first time included Arab Emirates, Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Iran, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Turkey and Uruguay. With the Forum now concluded, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions from the week are available on demand at Series Mania+.
Movie Channels
Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat Premieres 14 Feb on Zee
Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat world TV premiere 14 Feb at 8pm passion meets politics.
MUMBAI: Cupid’s arrow just got a plot twist and it’s heading straight for your TV screen. This Valentine’s Day, Zee Cinema is turning up the heat with the world television premiere of Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat, a raw, rule-breaking romantic drama that proves love doesn’t always come wrapped in roses.
Set to air on Saturday, 14 February at 8pm, the film stars Harshvardhan Rane and Sonam Bajwa, directed by Milap Zaveri. It dives headfirst into obsession, heartbreak, and the kind of unconditional love that leaves scorch marks. Rane plays Vikramaditya, a powerful politician whose all-consuming passion for actress Adaa spirals into chaos when his feelings go unreturned unleashing a storm of emotion, misunderstanding, and life-altering consequences.
The timing couldn’t be sharper. Audiences are clearly craving intense love stories over sugar-coated ones, and this film taps straight into that vein. Harshvardhan Rane already has a loyal fanbase from his cult hit Sanam Teri Kasam, which cemented his status as the go-to guy for heart-wrenching romance especially among younger viewers who keep the film on repeat.
Milap Zaveri captured the film’s beating heart, “This film is about love that doesn’t follow rules. With Valentine’s Day being a time when audiences gravitate towards romantic narratives, the television premiere of Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat on Zee Cinema felt like the perfect fit. The continued love for intense romances shows there is a strong emotional appetite for such stories.”
Rane himself called it a story rooted in messy, honest emotion, “Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat explores love in its most intense and vulnerable form where emotions are messy and deeply human. It’s a story that doesn’t shy away from passion or pain on Valentine’s Day making it even more special as it reflects the many shades of love people experience.”
Sonam Bajwa added her take, “Ek Deewane Ki Deewaniyat is not a conventional love story, it’s raw, intense and emotional. Valentine’s Day is usually associated with happy romance but this film explores love in its most vulnerable form.”
So if your Valentine’s plans include more than chocolates and clichés, tune in to Zee Cinema at 8pm on 14 February. Because sometimes the most unforgettable love stories aren’t the ones that end neatly, they’re the ones that leave you questioning just how far passion can push before everything changes.
