Balkan Dramas Leverage Rich Storytelling, Seek Global Breakouts

Two buzzy Balkan series gained attention this week at the Sarajevo Film Festival as local creators discussed their strategies for crafting regional stories that could achieve international success.

Sunday night’s red-carpet premiere featured “Operation Sabre,” a Serbian crime drama that premiered at Canneseries’ Long Form Competition earlier this year. The show, centered on the 2003 assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić, is the brainchild of creators and directors Goran Stanković and Vladimir Tagić.

Snezana van Houwelingen, who produced the series for Belgrade-based This and That Productions alongside Martichka Bozhilova of Agitprop for Radio Television of Serbia, emphasized that they targeted global audiences from the very start.

“From the very beginning, we believed this story had international potential, even if it was a very local event and it takes place in Serbia,” Houwelingen stated. “Everything we did during the development process was related to how to make a TV show [that would] communicate with an international audience.”

Anna Rohde, an international creative executive at Beta Film Group, revealed that her company showed interest in the project as early as 2019 after it received accolades at the CineLink Drama pitching sessions in Sarajevo.

“From that point, it was very clear that it was very international,” Rohde said. Beta Film, known for distributing works like “I Know Your Soul” by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jasmila Žbanić, aimed to leverage its global network to help create a breakout Balkan hit.

“We discussed what we could add as a co-production partner,” Rohde added. “It was more a question of collaboration.”

Eckert Emmanuel, acquisition deputy director at Mediawan Rights, noted a shift in their approach to TV series. Emmanuel explained, “We really want to help the producer to finance the show. That’s what we are doing more and more. It’s very different from 10 years ago, when we just received shows that were finished and ready to be sold. We are more partners than just distributors.”

Earlier this year, Mediawan Rights ventured into the Balkans by acquiring international distribution rights to “Constantine’s Crossing,” a supernatural World War II drama from Telekom Serbia and Belgrade-based Firefly Productions. This series, featuring a blend of vampires, werewolves, and Nazis, was described as “not the easiest pitch,” yet its unique elements and strong script captivated Emmanuel.

“Constantine’s Crossing” is adapted from a Serbian bestseller by Dejan Stojiljkovic and penned by Djordje Milosavljevic and Boban Jevtić. Jevtić, former head of the Serbian film center and a renowned writer, highlighted that the mystical elements were intended to appeal to a global audience.

“When people are thinking what kind of project we want to do on a very large scale, we wanted to do something that communicates to the world through genre, with a really strong local touch,” he said.

Genres like these have become key to international TV production, helping regions establish a recognizable identity similar to Nordic Noir.

However, Rohde cautioned against a one-size-fits-all strategy for creating global hits, saying, “Here’s the bad news: there’s no recipe. And here’s the good news: there’s so much creative energy [in each region], full of stories, and it’s very much fun to have a look at each and every one of them. We are open to anything.”

Emmanuel pointed out that the Balkan countries, often associated with historical conflicts, could benefit from acknowledging their shared history and cultural identity.

“I think what is very important when you talk about the Balkans, we are not talking about one country,” he noted. “Of course, we work with Serbia, Croatia, and other countries. But I think we are stronger when we are united.”

The Sarajevo Film Festival continues until August 23rd.

Source: Variety