“Etty” and “Killing a Bear” Take Serielizados’ Top Prizes

By Tom Whitfield

Hagai Levi’s six-part “Etty” won best international series and Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo’s six-part “Killing a Bear” won best national series at the Serielizados TV Festival in Barcelona. The festival announced both prizes Saturday night.

Etty takes the international prize

The French-Dutch-German drama draws on the diaries of Dutch Jewish author Etty Hillesum. It follows the passionate 27-year-old Etty through a spiritual and emotional journey in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Levi gave the period piece a modern spin, according to the festival.

Arte France was a major backer of Levi’s historical drama, conceived as a feature film in six episodes. The festival says “Etty” world-premiered out of competition at Venice, was highlighted at Series Mania, reached French cinemas on May 6, and launched on Arte.tv on May 16. Les Films du Poisson produced it, and Studio TF1 handles international sales.

The announcement names no buyers or territories and gives no audience figures for either winner.

Killing a Bear takes the national prize

Serielizados awarded Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo best national series for “Killing a Bear” (“Matar a un oso”). Their Spanish crime drama makes the bear the victim, tells the crime from multiple viewpoints, and expands the suspect pool to a 262-member Anti-Bears chat room in the high-Pyrenean Val d’Arán.

Arte France and Movistar Plus collaborated on the series, produced by the brothers’ Kubik Films, which Studio TF1 owns. Serielizados calls Movistar Plus Spain’s largest pay-TV and streaming operator. It world-premiered at Spain’s Valladolid Film Festival before its Catalan premiere at Serielizados. The Movistar Plus Original opens in Spain on December 1.

Finnish producer Roosa Toivonen, a Tallinn TV Beats co-head on the jury with Canneseries’ Claire-Marine Pietriga and the Berlinale’s Rowan Woods, said: “With this series, we felt really lucky to have been invited into a world so fully realised, so distinctly Catalan but portrayed with a confidence and a muscularity that left us astonished.”

The smaller prizes

Serielizados also awarded prizes in both competitive sections.

• Best international screenplay: Arte France took the award for “Camarades,” a French comedy co-created and co-penned by Benjamin Charbit (“Under Control”) and Dominique Baumart (“The Bureau”).
• Best performance: BAFTA-nominated Diane Morgan won for playing Linda, a second-hand robot, in the BBC’s “Ann Droid.”
• Best national screenplay: “Segunda Temporada” won for writer-director Miguel Ángel Blanca and co-writers Berta Prieto and Víctor Diago. Serielizados’ Kick lab developed the drama about a washed-up ghostwriter and a fading trap legend fresh out of jail. Barcelona’s Boogaloo Films produced it; Paris-based Oble handles sales. The announcement calls it a 7-30-minute drama without explaining that format.
• Best actress: Carmen Machi won for tax inspector Sara Santano in “Celeste” Season 2, a Movistar Plus-100 Balas production that premiered in Barcelona. Creator Diego San José and director Elena Trapé won twice for “Yakarta” the previous year.
• Special mention: HBO Max and 3Cat co-commissioned “In Vitro,” a dramedy about fertility treatment. Marc Crehuet created it with Alejandra Guimerà. Crehuet shares writing with Carmen Marfá, Natalia Boadas and Víctor Sala. It launched in Spain on HBO Max and 3Cat on October 19. The festival reported an 18.2% share on the Catalan public broadcaster.

The international jury cited “In Vitro”’s global appeal and international remake potential. The Spanish jury praised the commissioners’ creative courage and the four entries’ central female characters of different ages. Their praise addressed creative risk, not audience demand.

What does the €5,500 pitch prize change for a new producer?

Laura Roqué, Luis Sorolla and Eloy Zamora won the €5,500 ($6,100) Mind the Gap Award for “El Observatorio.” Set in a small village in Sierra Morena, the Spanish project follows astrophysicists investigating mysterious flickering lights until Sara believes the light is her deceased father trying to communicate. It remains in early development and is looking for a producer.

The project first pitched at the ECAM Forum 2026, where it earned a Serielizados award. Arte France’s Alexios Kastrissianakis joined Mubi’s Ben Driscoll, Movistar Plus’ Laura Escrivá, ZDF Studios’ Susanne Frank and Beta Film’s Peter Lohner on the jury. Kastrissianakis said: “After a great deliberation we’ve decided to award new talent who need to be discovered.”

That is cash and exposure, not a commissioning deal. The announcement names no broadcaster or streamer and gives no schedule.

The Mind the Gap jury also gave two honorable mentions to female-led dramas about abuse:

• “Dangerous Woman,” a Finnish psychological drama about abuse, received an honorable mention. Gutsy Pictures produced it for MTV Finland and TV4 Sweden.
• “Callback,” a Spanish drama about abuse created by sisters Joana and Mireia Vilapuig, also received an honorable mention. Funicular Films, producer of “This is Not Sweden,” made it with Left Tackle Films. It won the €2,000 ($2,200) Konga Music Agency award.

A festival claim of 18,000 attendees

Co-founder and festival programmer Betu Martínez Molero put attendance at 18,000 across more than 60 activities, including more than 30 national and international premieres. He called the 13th edition Spain’s leading international TV series festival and one of Southern Europe’s most prominent. The announcement offers no audited attendance or comparison with rival festivals, so the claim remains self-reported.

He also said the National and International Competitions had grown, filling the main venues. Screening non-distributed international shows had put them on Spanish platforms’ radar and connected local creators with international players.

Serielizados runs through October 28 across Barcelona venues, with masterclasses by Levi, Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue, a full day of the Miniput quality-TV showcase and the second Mind the Gap competition. After its Barcelona showcase, the festival will stream on Filmin from November 10 to 22.

The next test is whether that visibility produces a commission for “El Observatorio,” rather than another trophy.