Slovakian drama series Our People has won the Series Mania Co-Pro Pitch and taken home a €50,000 development prize.
The pitch beat out competition from 14 other titles to win the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award following a day of pitching against projects from the likes of Japan, France, Germany and Eastern Europe.
The pitching team — Jakub Viktorín, Tomáš Hrubý and Miro Sifra — drew an impromptu round of applause from the audience following their presentation, which intrigued the audience by describing their eureka moment while researching the crime drama story, saying, it “Felt like the world of Fargo.”
The six-part political drama series, from Nutprodukcia, is based on the grim true-life tale about the killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, in 2018. “These are stupid criminals. They were getting advice [to commit murder] from fortune tellers,” said Hrubý.
Kuciak has been investigating tax fraud among top Slovakian criminals and several people...
The pitch beat out competition from 14 other titles to win the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award following a day of pitching against projects from the likes of Japan, France, Germany and Eastern Europe.
The pitching team — Jakub Viktorín, Tomáš Hrubý and Miro Sifra — drew an impromptu round of applause from the audience following their presentation, which intrigued the audience by describing their eureka moment while researching the crime drama story, saying, it “Felt like the world of Fargo.”
The six-part political drama series, from Nutprodukcia, is based on the grim true-life tale about the killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, in 2018. “These are stupid criminals. They were getting advice [to commit murder] from fortune tellers,” said Hrubý.
Kuciak has been investigating tax fraud among top Slovakian criminals and several people...
- 3/20/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
An explosive political drama retracing the 2018 murders of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, “Our People” claimed the best project award at this year’s Series Mania Forum.
Winning €50,000 in prize money and earning an enhanced international stature, the unflinching miniseries should now see an easier path forward – particularly given the chilly reception it found with funding authorities in native Slovakia.
“We thought it impossible,” said director Tereza Nvotova as she claimed the Series Mania prize. “We thought it was dead, because the government in Slovakia really doesn’t want this story told. And we think this story is so important not just because of what is happening in Slovakia, and not just because Jan and Martina were murdered.”
“We just want to tell the truth,” Nvotova continued. “The world is turning very dark, and I think we all can feel it. We are all scared and...
Winning €50,000 in prize money and earning an enhanced international stature, the unflinching miniseries should now see an easier path forward – particularly given the chilly reception it found with funding authorities in native Slovakia.
“We thought it impossible,” said director Tereza Nvotova as she claimed the Series Mania prize. “We thought it was dead, because the government in Slovakia really doesn’t want this story told. And we think this story is so important not just because of what is happening in Slovakia, and not just because Jan and Martina were murdered.”
“We just want to tell the truth,” Nvotova continued. “The world is turning very dark, and I think we all can feel it. We are all scared and...
- 3/19/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Our People, a political drama series from Slovakia, has won the prize for best pitch at the 2024 Series Mania television festival.
The series explores the true story of the 2018 assassination of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, at their home. Prior to his death, Kuicak had exposed corruption at the highest level of national politics, drawing connections between political leaders, mafia bosses and corrupt businessmen. The twin murders shocked the country and triggered a political crisis, eventually leading to the collapse of the Slovak government.
Tereza Nvotová and Miro Sifra co-wrote Our People, with Nvotová directing and Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý producing for nutprodukcia. Nvotová said she drew inspiration from the work of Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short) to combine humor with the dark subject matter of the series, which is based on more than 50,000 pages of case files.
A jury, headed by Nina Lederman,...
The series explores the true story of the 2018 assassination of Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, at their home. Prior to his death, Kuicak had exposed corruption at the highest level of national politics, drawing connections between political leaders, mafia bosses and corrupt businessmen. The twin murders shocked the country and triggered a political crisis, eventually leading to the collapse of the Slovak government.
Tereza Nvotová and Miro Sifra co-wrote Our People, with Nvotová directing and Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý producing for nutprodukcia. Nvotová said she drew inspiration from the work of Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short) to combine humor with the dark subject matter of the series, which is based on more than 50,000 pages of case files.
A jury, headed by Nina Lederman,...
- 3/19/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Review‘The Killing of a Journalist’ on the 2018 murder of Slovakian journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina is an exposé on a democracy that had rotted from the inside, controlled by a nexus of oligarchs and people on their payroll.As an investigative reporter and the lead narrator of The Killing of a Journalist on the 2018 brutal murder of her colleague Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in Slovakia, every pixel in the film would have by now been hardwired into Pavla Holcová’s memories. Yet the Czech journalist sat with her head slightly tilted to the left gazing intently at the screen as the 100-minute film had its India premiere at the Ems Hall in Kochi, Kerala, on the morning of Sunday, March 26. Packed with CCTV footage, archived pressers, police testimonies, interviews, and incriminating details from several terabytes of a data dump that was leaked to the journalists investigating the double murder,...
- 3/28/2023
- by AjayR
- The News Minute
There’s no one way to experience the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, and no singular type of attendee. Stroll into the Grandhotel Pupp, the 18th century luxury resort that serves as the main social hive, and you may clink glasses with Netflix execs, members of the HFPA and filmmakers of all stripes; venture into the dense forests that surround the Czech spa town and discover the ad hoc sites where hundreds of teens camp out for a week-long party.
Head into a theater, however, and you’ll see those many worlds meet.
Boasting 453 screenings spread across nine days, this year’s edition wrapped this past weekend, awarding its top prize to the brooding Canadian-Iranian drama “Summer With Hope” ahead of a closing night presentation of George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” – rather perfectly encapsulating the festival’s joint promise.
Also Read:
‘Summer With Hope,’ ‘Word’ Win Top Prizes...
Head into a theater, however, and you’ll see those many worlds meet.
Boasting 453 screenings spread across nine days, this year’s edition wrapped this past weekend, awarding its top prize to the brooding Canadian-Iranian drama “Summer With Hope” ahead of a closing night presentation of George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” – rather perfectly encapsulating the festival’s joint promise.
Also Read:
‘Summer With Hope,’ ‘Word’ Win Top Prizes...
- 7/13/2022
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
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