Spanish streaming platform Filmin and Belgium’s Boucan Film Production have joined Funicular Films, the producer of “This is Not Sweden”, for the series “Robbery, Beaten and Death” (“El pigjor atracament de la historia”).
Upscale SVOD service Filmin also produces original programming and maintains a vast catalog of classic films. It also hosts dedicated country channels such as Costa Rica.
Founded by producers Boris Van Gils and Michael Goldberg, Buchan describes itself as a company that produces audience-driven auteur films with mainstream appeal. We have offices in Brussels, Abidjan and Paris. Some of their notable credits include Noces, directed by Stefan Strieker, which was nominated for a César Award for Best Foreign Film in 2018, and Les Reilleurs, which was a box office success in Belgium.
Part of the Berlinale Copro Series event, the series centers on two lifelong friends who are hired to create a television series centered around a bank robbery. They cling to the bold and extreme philosophies of the mysterious artists they admire, all the while coveting the accolades they have always been denied. Determined to prove themselves, they choose not to adapt their story into a film, instead choosing to carry out a real bank robbery, pushing their project beyond the bounds of fiction.
Cable Car’s Marta Baldo said: “Constructed as a playful guide to pulling off the world’s biggest heist, Robbery, Assault and Death uses comedy to explore universal themes such as friendship, family, loyalty, work, art, capitalism and the contradictions of our industry.”
“Like science fiction or dystopia, its meta layer allows it to talk about the human condition with a political and philosophical flavor,” she said.
Marcel Bollas and Nao Albet wrote and directed the series, and also star in it. The rest of the cast is yet to be confirmed.
“Robbery, Beating & Death” received important support from ICEC, the Catalan Cultural Agency, a pillar of Catalonia’s robust audiovisual production environment.
ICEC’s High-End TV Production Fund, launched in 2022, allocates up to 1.5 million euros ($1.8 million) for Catalan series, with a minimum budget of 4 million euros ($4.7 million).
First announced at Series Mania 2024, “This Is Not Sweden” won the Best Performance Award for Aina Clotet at Cannes Series 2024. It also won the European Award for Best European TV Fiction Series. Clotet made his first feature film, the love triangle drama Oh Nora! ” was directed. It is based on a screenplay she co-wrote with Valentina Viso. It is co-produced by Funicular and Ikiru Films and is in theaters now.
Bowing in Spain on Catalonia’s 3Cat and national pubcaster RTVE, This Isn’t Sweden follows a young couple, Mariana and Samuel, as they resettle with other yuppies in a chic, leafy community in the western hills overlooking Barcelona, determined to build the best life possible for their young children.
