Two of the most admired European series of 2025, the Spanish-French co-production “The Anatomy of a Moment” and Norway’s “A Better Man” have gained further recognition and won the top prize at one of the most important television events in Spain: Barcelona’s Selierizados – Barcelona Series Festival.
The festival’s 12th Serielizados was brought to life this year by the inaugural Mind the Gap Projects competition and the massive Serielizados PRO conference, which brought together top international executives from Arte France, Slot Machines, BBC Studios, Beta Film, Sweden’s SVT and Finland’s YLE. Selierizados was also given a high-quality masterclass by Alan Ball on Friday, which drew cries of godly enthusiasm from the crowd packed with fans. Ball delved into the dynamics in the writers’ rooms of HBO’s “Six Feet Under” and “True Blood,” while the lack of ability to get projects to streaming services or broadcast stations over the past five years appears to be indicative of where the global television industry is heading.
Selierizado’s other major accolades were Canada’s “Empathy,” which has already won multiple awards, and Spain’s “Jakarta,” both of which had large fan followings at the festival.
The festival’s award also represents a major win for Beta Film, which handles international distribution for both “A Better Man” and “Empathy.” Highly acclaimed in the industry and one of Mind the Gap’s best series was the multicultural story “Fortune Cookie.”
Selierizados has often shown impeccable taste in line-up selection and top awards, such as last year’s jury awarding Sweden’s Pressure Point the Best International Series. Few will protest the award this year.
“Anatomy of a Moment”
In these times of conflict, it may be no coincidence that this year’s top two Selierizados national and international series of the year went to works that capture the complexity of human character. It was also a lesson in how people with supposedly vastly different ideological viewpoints can serve the common good.
Anatomy of a Moment, written by Spain’s Alberto Rodríguez (The Plague, Tigres) and written by Rodríguez, Rafael Cobos and Fran Araújo, adapted from a non-fiction novel by Javier Cercas, chronicles, for example, how Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez, a former member of dictator Francisco Franco’s falange, survived the instigation of Spanish democracy. Spanish Communist Party leader Santiago Carrillo and reformist Francoist general Manuel Gutierrez Mellado. “The six-part series is tastefully directed and includes sharp narration that reveals the trio’s personalities, actions, and consequences as they emerge as characters of ‘Shakespearean stature,’ as Rodriguez told Variety.”
“A better man”
“A Better Man,” written by Thomas Seeberg Torjussen and winner of the Selierizados Best Series and Audience Award, antagonizes and outs misogynistic internet troll Tom. Disguising himself as a woman to avoid further persecution, he finds self-respect along the arduous path to salvation. Tackling three burning issues of our time: internet trolls, cancel culture, and masculinity, “A Better Man” succeeds in encapsulating this by giving an explanation to trolls and suggesting how they can be stopped, a fascinating and moving story, and a major achievement that requires Barsmo’s nuanced acting with two physical transformations and a hard-won mental transformation.
Celielizados’ praise for A Better Man joins the Cannes series for Best Series and Best Acting (Anders Baasmo’s Kon Tiki), and the series will air on Norwegian public broadcaster NRK on November 9th, and in Germany on November 18th under the title Toxic Tom on ZDFneo and ZDFmediathek. Produced by Maipo Film (“State of Happiness,” “Miss”) and NRK’s Artbox, in collaboration with ZDFneo, are behind many great series of recent years.
“empathy”
Selierizados also helped to sympathize with the supposed losers of modern society. Set in a Quebec psychiatric hospital, “Empathy” depicts a mentally ill person’s epic and tragic emotional battle with his or her self, often with great humor. The film is produced by and stars Florence Lompre. Florence Lompre is now firmly established as one of Canada’s great television writers, having already won the Audience Award at Series Mania after Lompre won a Cannes Series double with Audrey’s Back. “Serielizados” won three awards in the international category: Best Acting, Best Original Screenplay, and Young Jury Award for Best Series. The Crave and Canal+ original garnered over 10 million views on France’s Canal+ within weeks of its premiere.
“Jakarta”
Set in a Spain of bleak high-rise apartment buildings, dilapidated gymnasiums, and anonymous mid-sized towns, “Jakarta” follows the grimy jersey-wearing Josela (played by the inimitable Javier Camera, star of Almodóvar’s “Talk to Her”), who competes in badminton at the Olympics, loses in the first round, and is still dragged into 1992. He now thinks he has discovered badminton prodigy Mar (15-year-old Karla Keres, “Motherhood”), who could earn him a ticket to the Jakarta World Championships as a trainer. But first of all, Mar won a victory in Spain. Jakarta, the sequel to creator Diego San José’s Series Mania winner Celeste, is produced by Buendía Estudios Canarias and Mediapro Canarias and proves San José to be one of Spain’s most attractive mainstream TV writers.
“Fortune Cookie” and “Plecocity Fair” score on Mind the Gap
Peruvian Oscar-winning director Adrián Saba, known for films such as The Erection of Toribio Baldelli (2023) and The Cleaner (2012), won Best Series for Mid the Gap and took home $5,500. “Fortune Cookie,” a lo-fi sci-fi drama thriller set in Madrid’s Usera Chinatown — “a show about family bonds, misunderstood children and rescued mothers,” Saba told Variety — was produced by Spanish flag-bearers Cubic Films and Newen Studios, led by brothers Fernando, Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cavezdo.
“It’s a comedy about two Gen Z misfits who avoid eviction, pursue their dreams, move on to adulthood, and point their finger at the glittering city (Barcelona) that leaves them behind,” said producer Anna M. Bofarle. “Precarity Fair,” written by Eli Cruz and Mika Cilindro and produced by Kaboga, won a Conga Music Award for Mind the Gap.
