Etty and Killing a Bear Win Top Prizes at Barcelona's Serielizados Festival
Hagai Levi's drama "Etty" won best international series at Serielizados, the series festival held in Barcelona. The Spanish thriller "Killing a Bear" ("Matar a un oso") took best national series. The prizes for the festival's two competitive sections were announced at an awards ceremony on Saturday, 24 October, according to Variety.
"Etty" is a French-Dutch-German show based on the diaries of Etty Hillesum, a Dutch Jewish writer. Levi wrote and directed it, and he attended the festival as a guest to present the series. It is an Arte France drama. It opened in French cinemas on 6 May and launched on Arte.tv on 16 May. Deadline has described it as a contemporary Holocaust series. The story follows a young woman's turbulent affair with her psychologist.
"Killing a Bear" is a Movistar Plus Original produced by Kubik Films. It was created by brothers Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo. The series is inspired by real events. It opens with the mysterious death of a bear called Cachou in the Aran Valley during the pandemic lockdown. It will arrive in Spain on 1 December.
The festival's other prizes went to a range of titles. Benjamin Charbit and Dominique Baumard's French comedy "Camarades" won best screenplay in the official International Selection. Diane Morgan won best performance for playing Linda, a second-hand robot, in the BBC's "Ann Droid".
This year's Serielizados was the 13th edition of the festival. Its prizes are voted on by the festival's jury and cover both international and Spanish-language work, so scripted dramas and comedies from different countries sit side by side on the same list.
For viewers, the news is simple. Both lead winners are already reaching audiences, and "Killing a Bear" has a Spanish release date. Anyone who wants to see "Etty" can find it on Arte.tv, the platform where it launched in May.
