Starring Elsa Pataky (“The Fast and the Furious,” “Furiosa – A Mad Max Saga”) and “Money Heist’s” Enrique Arce and Hovik Keuchkerian, SkyShowtime Original “Shades” (“Matices”) and Bulgarian drama “Shattered Bonds” will head Beta Film’s slate at the Berlin Festival’s European Film Market.
“Shades” is one of the two titles featured at a Berlinale Series Market Spanish Thrillers showcase on Feb. 17. Toplining “The White Lotus’” Julian Kostov, “Shattered Bonds” will center the EFM showcase “Narratives Against Rising Youth Violence” on Feb 18.
“Shades” and “Shattered Bonds” join official Berlinale TV entry “Other People’s Money,” inspired by the true story of Europe’s biggest known tax fraud, which screens as the sole TV series in the festival’s Panorama Section.
Beta Cinema represents Berlinale opening title “The Light” by Tom Tykwer (“Babylon Berlin,” “Run Lola Run”) and the Panorama entry “Cicadas” by Ina Weisse (“The Audition”).
Produced by Secuoya Studios (“Montecristo,” “Zorro”) and Stellarmedia for SkyShowtime, “Shades” marks SkyShowtime’s second locally commissioned original in Spain.
The six-hour series weighs in as a star-laden whodunnit but is deeper, darker, and faster than Agatha Christie and, more importantly, soon turns into a character-driven psychological thriller in which a celebrated psychiatrist gathers six patients at a remote but picturesque vineyard to complete their treatment.
He is found murdered. Intuitive police lieutenant Héctor Castro delves into the deep tangle of secrets or personal crime stories of each patient, who all have a motive for murder. Even the enigmatic psychiatrist’s daughter and Castro himself may have something to hide.
Stellarmedia’s Sergio Cánovas (“Girls Night Out”) serves as creator-director. Beta Film has international distribution outside SkyShowtime markets.
No part of the world has grown so fast recently in TV than Central and Eastern Europe, ‘Global 6′ streamer series orders sky-rocketing 150% there in 2024, Ampere Analysis estimates. Identified by Beta Film head Jan Mojto some five years back for its exciting growth potential, Beta continues to cherrypick top titles from the region, the latest “Shattered Bonds” being based on IP, the award-winning novel “The Mothers” by Teodora Dimova, translated into nine languages. The series plumbs the painful consequences of fractured parent-child relationships and their impact on life decisions, Beta Film has noted.
Victor Chouchkov (“Tilt,” “Shakespeare Like a Street Dog”) directs; Overlock Entertainment and Albion Films produce for Nova Broadcasting Group, the series’ anchor broadcaster, supported by the Bulgarian National Film Centre. Alexander Stanishev, the cinematographer on the Spike Lee-produced “Touched By Fire,” starring Katie Holmes, serves as DP. “Shattered Bonds” is also backed by UNICEF Bulgaria, which will launch a Stand by Me campaign to raise awareness of what is described as the most important conversation – the one between children and parents.
“When parents actively listen and engage with their children – whether about their fears, dreams, daily experiences or difficult topics – they create a foundation for trust, emotional well-being, resilience and healthy development,” said UNICEF Bulgaria representative Christina de Bruin.
In the show, created by Lilo Petrov and Alexander Chobanov, six teenagers start to form a strong bond with their new teacher. Their parents, however, see her as a threat.
“For me, it was a series about love and about how important it is to teach children to love, regardless of their family’s social standing,” said head writer Vladislav Tinchev.
“If they are not loved and don’t know how to love, it creates an empty space in their souls they desperately try to fill. And that leads to bad choices. We have to break this pattern of parents and institutions neglecting the need for love and understanding.”
A new adaptation of the Israeli teen drama “Euphoria,” offering a European re-interpretation of the iconic HBO hit series of the same name, “Euphorie” produced by Beta Film subsid Zeitsprung Pictures, forms part of Berlinale Series Market’s Up Next: Germany showcase on Feb 17.
Sommerhaus, another Beta subsid, world premieres as a Berlinale Special, “No Beast. So Fierce,” a reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Richard III.”
