Serielizados Fest will open its 9th edition with the premiere of ‘Smiley’

The International Series Festival, Serielizados Fest, will open its 9th edition in Barcelona with the premiere of ‘Smiley’, the new Netflix series based on the acclaimed play by Guillem Clua (National Playwriting Award 2022), who serves as showrunner in this adaptation starring Carlos Cuevas (‘Merlí’) and Miki Esparbé (‘Reyes de la noche’). 

The opening ceremony of Serielizados Fest Barcelona will take place on October 18 at Sala Phenomena. The festival will run until October 22 at the CCCB, CASA SEAT, Sala Phenomena and the Rouge Cocktail Club (as the official cocktail bar of the festival).

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In this 9th edition, premieres such as ‘Fácil’, the new Movistar Plus+ original series about four women with functional diversity who want to live in an apartment in Barceloneta and start their independence together, will be programmed. Created by Anna R. Costa (‘Arde Madrid’) and Laura Jou (‘La vida sin Sara Amat’), it stars Natalia de Molina (winner of two Goya awards for ‘Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados’ and ‘Techo y comida’) and Anna Castillo (winner of a Goya for ‘El Olivo’).

From ATRESplayer PREMIUM (Atresmedia’s streaming service)  we will see the preview of ‘La Ruta’, a series that tells the story behind the social and cultural phenomenon that was the ‘bakalao route’ during the 80’s and 90’s in Valencia. The series, created by Borja Soler and Roberto Martín Maiztegui, stars Àlex Monner, Claudia Salas, Ricardo Gómez, Elisabet Casanovas and Guillem Barbosa. The screening and discussion session will be moderated by journalist and dj Luis Costa. After the session, Serielizados Fest will have a closing party at Pati de les dones on the CCCB with a bakala music session by djs and producers of that time. The night will end at Sala Apolo in Barcelona with a thematic music program at Nitsa.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

For the first time this year, the 7 international series competing in the official selection will be shown on the big screen, at Sala Phenomena in Barcelona. And later, they will be available online at the festival on the Filmin platform, as has been the norm since 2020. 

• ‘Big Boys’ (UK, 2022). This endearing sitcom follows two very different boys who become best friends in the first week of college. Reaffirmed by an excellent audience response, Big Boys has been defined by the press as the new ‘coming-of-age obsession’.
• ‘Esterno Notte’ (Italy, 2022). Directed by the prestigious filmmaker Marco Bellocchio, this political drama brings us the true story of Aldo Moro, leader of the Christian Democrats and supporter of the historic alliance with the Communist Party (PCI) in 1978. On the inauguration ceremony of this new formation, Moro was ambushed and kidnapped for 55 days. His body was found lifeless. 
• ‘Lost Luggage’ (Belgium, 2022). A police officer is tasked with the returning of the suitcases and other belongings from the victims of the 2016 Brussels airport terrorist attacks perpetrated by Islamic State. Her growing obsession with each case will slowly lead her to stop taking care of herself.
• ‘Sherwood’ (UK, 2022). The BBC’s latest big hit, with more than six million viewers, can be seen for the first time in Spain at the Barcelona edition of the Serielizados Fest. Based on real events, and defined by the British press as “one of the most intelligent dramas of recent years”, ‘Sherwood’ takes us to a small mining town in Nottingham, where two shocking and unexpected murders shake the community, provoking one of the biggest manhunts in the history of the country.
• ​​’The Shift’ (Denmark, 2022). From ‘An Education’ director, Lone Scherfig, and starring Sofie Gråbøl (‘The Killing’), alongside Pål Sverre Hagen (‘Fury’, ‘Exit’), ‘The Shift’ is one of the Scandinavian factory’s top fictions for this 2022. Scherfig is Ella, a midwife who runs Denmark’s best maternity ward, where mental and physical effort push workers to their limits.
• ‘Ida Takes Charge’ (Norway, 2022). Ida moves to Oslo to study psychology. Her greatest fear is a terrorist attack at her own university, like the ones on the news. All hell breaks loose when she meets Aksel, a lone wolf labeled as incel (involuntary celibate), and a regular on strange internet forums. Ida begins to think he is a potential genocidal. The more she gets to know him, the more fearful she becomes. How far is she willing to go?
• ‘Suspicion’ (Czech Republic, 2021). One of the most chilling performances in recent years. Based on true events, this drama chronicles the life of Hana Kučerová, a cold and distant nurse with no social skills, who often treats her patients badly. When one of them dies under suspicious circumstances, it becomes clear to the media, the police and her colleagues that she is guilty. A brilliant miniseries that does not try to blame, but to identify the difference between truth and mere appearance.

These seven series will compete for the Jury Award, formed by actress Vicky Luengo (‘Antidisturbios’, ‘Historias para no dormir’), Icelandic showrunners Gísli Örn Garðarsson and Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir (creators of ‘Blackport’, winner of Serielizados Fest 2021) and director Belén Funes (‘La hija de un ladrón’).

In the documentary section, a title that reviews a fundamental moment in television fiction: ‘’In my mind‘ (UK, 2017), a documentary about one of the most enigmatic and influential series of the 20th century: ‘The Prisoner‘.

SERIELIZADOS NEXT

In the Serielizados Next section, the audience will be able to enjoy ‘About Sasha‘. This French series narrates the life of an intersex teenager who was identified as a boy at birth, and whose intersexuality was always seen as a disease, a biological mistake on her way to masculinity. After expending his childhood being pressured to identify as something she is not, Sasha is ready for a new beginning.

Serielizados Next is an annual initiative in collaboration with Acció Cinema. A selection of series with a feminist, vindictive and diverse vocation. Serielizados Next sheds light on the issues that will mark the social agenda of the next decade.

TRIBUTES

This year the organization of the festival is pleased to announce that the tribute of this edition is dedicated to a pioneering and immortal series: ‘Teresines SA’. On the 30th anniversary of its premiere on TV3, the cast and artistic team of the company La Cubana will offer a talk where they will discover the creation process and the ins and outs that made these three sisters from the neighborhood of Gracia an enduring symbol of Catalan culture and idiosyncrasy.

Another classic that is celebrating its birthday is ‘The Shield‘. AXN channel and Serielizados Fest will offer a tribute session to one of the most emblematic (and incorrect) police series on television, which is back on everyone’s lips on its 20th anniversary. A charismatic unit chief, Vic Mackey, fights Los Angeles criminals with unorthodox methods, such as extortion, torture or blackmail, if he deems necessary. The session will be hosted by journalist Toni Garcia Ramon.

The most famous puppet of Catalan television is also in luck. This is none other than Mic, a pumpkin-colored wool puppet who has been accompanying children uninterruptedly for 15 years. Alongside his inseparable Cincsegons, Cargol and Mosca, Mic helps the little ones to discover the world around them through experimentation. The session will feature the presence of Mic, for the ecstasy and delight of the little ones in the house.

TALKS AND PODCASTS

Is it possible to make a fiction series about the King? What kind of obstacles can you find on the way? Does censorship still exist? These, and other questions, will be shared by Javier Olivares (creator of ‘El Ministerio del Tiempo’) and Pilar Eyre (author of the book ‘Yo, el Rey’) in an intimate and revealing session on what it means to undertake a project about the controversial (and protected) figure of Juan Carlos I.

If there is one book that all critics and fans should have on their bookshelves, it is Jorge Carrión’s ‘Teleshakespeare’, published ten years ago by Errata Naturae. In it, the writer analyzes in depth different iconic series such as ‘The Sopranos’, ‘The Wire’, ‘Mad Men’, ‘A dos metros bajo tierra’ or ‘Roma’, pillars of a process of paradigm shift that brought television into the folds of high culture without losing its popular soul. For this special occasion, Carrión presents an extension of the book (published by Galaxia Gutenberg, 2022) with 100 new pages together with the series critic Lorenzo Mejino.

Oye Polo will have a live performance at the 9th Serielizados Fest. The podcast that, according to its hosts, the New York Times defined as “an hour of nonsense talk by two aunts who would be billing twelve thousand euros a month if the world was a fair place”. In Oye Polo, Ana Polo and Maria Rovira talk about everything and nothing, current affairs and past affairs, becoming one of the most popular podcasts of the Radio Primavera Sound factory.

SHOWCASE OF 2022 SERIES PILOTS

The young talent contest sponsored by DAMA reaches its 9th edition with new creators in competition. Serielizados Fest Barcelona will screen the finalist pilot episodes in a session at the CCCB Theater. The audience will also have the opportunity to cast their vote. The Zoom Festival of Igualada and DAMA, collaborate in this festival that every year brings together hundreds of spectators eager to see the first works of the next creators of the country.

The Showcase masterclass will be given by Ana Rujas and Alex de Lucas, about the dialogue between history and music in the ‘Cardo’ series.

The festival will soon announce the finalist pilots of this 9th edition. 

In addition, on September 26th, Serielizados Fest will announce the program of its Madrid edition, the rest of the Barcelona program, and all the premieres of series and documentaries on Filmin at a press conference.