Buyers
Upfront

THE NEW SERIES MANIA FORUM initiAtive

AGENDA 2025

ABOUT

The Series Mania Buyers Upfront is an invitation-only event for buyers, showcasing exclusive excerpts from 10 eagerly awaited series that have strong global appeal. Curated by the Festival’s artistic team, the selection will include high-potential series about to be released or still in post-production and will be based on both artistic merit and broad audience appeal.

SELECTION 2025

THE DEAL – 6 x 46′ – Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium – 2024 [WINNER]
Genre: Drama, Thriller
International Sales: Gaumont
Production Company: Bande à Part Films, LES FILMS PELLEAS, Gaumont Télévision, Bidibul Productions, VERSUS PRODUCTION
Synopsis: 2015 – Switzerland hosts last-chance nuclear talks between the US and Iran, with Europe, Russia, and China. Swiss diplomat Alexandra Weiss leads the mission, where rising tensions and delegates’ hidden agendas threaten fragile diplomacy. But when her former love Payam—a threatened Iranian engineer—appears, Alexandra finds herself crossing lines to protect him. The world’s peace is at risk—how far will she go?

DANGEROUS TRUTH – 6 x 45′ – Germany – 2024
Genre: Thriller
International Sales: OneGate Media GmbH
Production Company: EIKON Media GmbH, DEAL PRODUCTIONS
Synopsis: Alex Jaromin has been living with his mother under a false name in the BKA witness protection program in Athens for 20 years. When she dies, he discovers that the deaths of his father and sister in 2003 were not, as he had assumed, the work of Serbian nationalists. In his search for the truth, he finds evidence that his father was commissioned by the German government to bring a witness out of Baghdad.

ESCAPING BOLIVIA – 6 x 44′ – Norway – 2025
Genre: Drama, Thriller
International Sales: REinvent International Sales
Production Company: Fenomen TV, 4 1/2 FILM
Synopsis: Ida, her girlfriend, and sister-in-law are brutally arrested at the airport in Bolivia, accused of smuggling cocaine. The three women are sentenced to 13 years in one of the world’s poorest prisons. Ida quickly realizes that she is surrounded by lies and betrayal and that no one can be trusted. While waiting for help from Norwegian authorities, an unexpected source gives her a chance, and a daring escape plan is set into action.

FUSION – 6 x 52′ – Iceland – 2024
Genre: Thriller
International Sales: The Mediapro Studio Distribution, Wild Sheep Content
Production Company: Act4
Synopsis: Talented chef Jónas, falsely imprisoned, tries to regain his family’s trust. Shunned by society, he accepts illicit funds to open a restaurant, leading him to money laundering. This jeopardizes his parole, life, and loved ones.

RIOT WOMEN – 6 x 60′ – UK – 2025
Genre: Drama
International Sales: Mediawan Rights
Production Company: Drama Republic Limited
Synopsis: Five women come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band to enter a local talent contest but soon discover that they have a lot to say—and this is their way to say it. As they juggle demanding jobs, grown-up children, complicated parents, husbands who’ve left, and disastrous relationships, the band becomes a catalyst for change in their lives.

S LINE – 6 x 60′ – South Korea – 2024
Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction
International Sales: Sidus
Production Company: Sidus
Synopsis: Hyun-heup sees the “S Line,” a red thread linking intimate partners, which she calls a curse. She isolates herself to avoid bringing misfortune. A murder rocks her neighborhood; sinister glasses revealing S-Lines are to blame. Her friend falls into a coma after using them, so she teams up with Detective Han Ji-wook. Despite their efforts, loved ones suffer, prompting them to realize the glasses’ creator is luring them into peril.

SHADOW LEAKS – 6 x 45′ – Germany – 2024/2025
Genre: YA Thriller
International Sales: Beta Film
Production Company: Dreamtool Entertainment for ARD Degeto Film, funk, and Hessischer Rundfunk
Synopsis: It’s Nola’s first day at a new high school, her last year before graduation, and things already seem off. Linus, a student, recently passed. During his memorial, everyone’s phones go off: a mysterious website, the “Shadow Page,” upends all their lives by exposing their most intimate secrets. The more traffic the site receives, the more sensitive content is leaked—chats, screenshots, explicit pictures, and videos. Even the most popular couple, jock Simon and the beautiful Patricia, are at risk. Nola isn’t exempt either—whoever is behind the page knows a dark secret she’s keeping and is blackmailing her. Together with Linus’ best friend Corvin, she tries to prevent the leak. But does Nola have to betray him to save herself? Who is behind the Shadow Page? And what does it all have to do with Linus’ death?

THE DANISH WOMAN – 6 x 47′ – Iceland – 2025
Genre: Drama, Comedy
International Sales: The Party Film Sales
Production Company: SLOT MACHINE
Synopsis: When Ditte Jensen retires from the Danish Secret Service, she moves into an apartment block in Reykjavik seeking a quiet life tending her garden. But Ditte cannot stop being a warrior. Soon, the apartment building becomes a battlefield for a better world. With her deep-rooted sense of justice, she sees her neighbor’s problems and is compelled to help—whether they want her help or not. And in her world, the end justifies the means. Always.

THE PUZZLE LADY – 6 x 60′ – UK – 2025
Genre: Comedy, Thriller
International Sales: ZDF Studios
Production Company: Factual Fiction and December Films
Synopsis: When a strange murder takes place in the sleepy market town of Bakerbury, the local police are baffled by a crossword puzzle clue left on the body. Fortunately, the famous cruciverbalist Cora Felton, known as The Puzzle Lady, has just moved to town with her long-suffering niece, Sherry Carter.

WAR OF THE KINGDOMS – 6 x 60′ – Germany – 2024
Genre: Drama
International Sales: Fremantle
Production Company: Constantin Television
Synopsis: An epic medieval fantasy based on the original heroic legend The Song of the Nibelungs, the inspiration behind Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. Bound by duty and loyalty to the kingdom, Hagen is a soldier and Lord Commander ready to serve and stand by his King. But he has a secret,he is deeply in love with Princess Kriemhild. A love that will never be permitted.

BUYERS CHOICE AWARD 2025

Adding to the excitement, a distinguished jury of top buyers presented the Buyers’ Choice Award for the most promising series.

The jury will evaluated the selected series and announced the winner at the Series Mania Forum Welcome Drinks that evening, followed by a vibrant red carpet screening.

PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS

The Buyers Upfront was organized in collaboration with CTS International Media.