Arte France, the company behind the Oscar-winning film Sentimental Value, has joined the new series Hormone, produced by Alex Berger’s Top the Originals Productions, which also produced the groundbreaking spy thriller The Bureau.
“Hormone,” a period drama that anticipates the current era of controversy, was written by Noé Debray, co-writer of Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Deepan” and “Stillwater,” starring Matt Damon.
“Hormone” was co-written with novelist Joachim Schnaff (“Cette Nuit”) and co-produced with Moonshaker Films, owned by studio TF1 and directed by Benjamin Ellerouf, who also directed Yvan Attal’s hit “Le Brio” and Debret’s “The Good Jewish Boy.”
The six-part series, set in the Netherlands in the 1930s, begins with a German researcher discovering sex hormones, developing the world’s first contraceptive pill, and testing it on slaughterhouse workers with their full consent, Arte France’s Alexandre Piel said in comments Thursday at the Arte France Showcase at Series Mani.
However, at the time, the very concept of female hormones was a taboo, and a wave of violence erupted in the slaughterhouse and the surrounding town, and the story takes place in Europe at the height of World War II.
Pierre also announced filming dates for two upcoming Arte productions. One of them, “L’homme au manteau de sing,” is expected to begin production in late summer or early fall.
The film was directed and co-written by Matthias Gokalp, whose The Ordinary People was screened at the 2009 Cannes Critics’ Week and whose Amour Who won Best Series at the 2020 Luchon Film Festival. Gokalp and Mark Lescha are actually co-writers with Nadine Ramali (“Little Indy”), who scored Venice Horizons in 2025’s “Silent Rebellion.” The film tells the true story of the friendship that develops between Fernand Legros, a glamorous celebrity art forger, and a judge who must solve the case as quickly and quietly as possible. However, this incident becomes a worldwide scandal. “L’homme au manteau de sing,” a series that blurs truth and lies, art and deception, pop and tragedy, is “a real-life ‘catch me if you can’ that reveals not only Legros’ genius, but also his judgment,” Pierre enthusiastically said, adding that a highly attractive cast will be announced soon.
Produced by Arte France, Unite and Caroline Nataf of 9.15 Films, “Deux fois disparu” is created by Mathieu Dong, Stéphane Bermans and Benjamin Daoust, and is created by the same Belgian creative team that created “The Break” (2018) and “Good People.”
Deux fois disparu, which Pier says has a noir feel and is quite realistic, will star Outlander’s César Domboy and Guillaume Potier (Squad 36).
The hour-long 2026 Arte showcase, packed with clips of recent and upcoming titles, revealed a few things. While most broadcasters are downsizing, Arte remains ambitious. Faced with market domination by US global streamers, Europe needs to fight back through alliances and diversity, establishing a lasting dialogue between worlds of different imaginations and cultures, Bruno Patino, CEO of Arte France, said in his keynote speech. Arte could play a “modest but determined” role here, he added.
Arte broadcasts in 6 languages, meaning 75% of Europeans can watch in their native language and is still growing. Led by a special screening of the competition’s main contenders Anatomy of a Moment by Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos and Yaga Levy’s Etty, Arte has selected six series for this year’s Series Mania, an expression of the company’s strong line in artistically ambitious and socially relevant titles, a passion shared by the French television festival.
In 2024, Arte recorded 3.3 billion views, an increase of 19% compared to 2023, and the social network boasted 38 million subscribers, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. Part of that growth is due to partnerships with like-minded broadcasters, such as Spain’s Movistar Plus+. One of the highlights of the Arte France showcase was a first look excerpt from To Kill a Bear, directed by Jorge Sánchez Cabezdo and Alberto Sánchez Cabezdo. This murder mystery, in which the victim is a bear, was inspired by a true crime in the Spanish Pyrenees and filmed in the spectacular Val d’Aran.
But the emotional high point of the showcase was sparked by Pulia Takavar, creator and director of Season 2 of the short-form youth series “Happiness,” which was chosen by Series Mania. The film follows Shadi, a young Iranian exile currently living in France, torn between homesickness and the struggles of being an Iranian woman. “Many young Iranians, artists, athletes, students are in prison right now. They don’t know what will happen next. They don’t know if they will be sentenced to death,” Takavar told an audience of series buffs.
