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The Franco-American Cultural Fund has unveiled the nine award winners from the American French Film Festival, which took place in Hollywood from Oct. 29- Nov. 3.

Taking home top prize for the audience award was “The Marching Band,” directed by Emmanuel Courcol. Boris Lojkine’s “Souleyman’s Story” took home the critics award while Louise Courvoisier’s “Holy Cow” nabbed the first film award. Taking home the American students award was “The Count of Monte Cristo” written and directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre De La Patellière. David Hertzog Dessites’ doc “Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand” won the documentary film award.

In the television category, “The Blissful” from director Stanislas Carré de Malberg won the TV movie award. Isaure Pisani-Ferry’s series “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” won the TV audience award. “Samber” from creator and writer Alice Géraud won the jury series award and Émilie de Monsabert’s “Suzzane” won the short film award.

This compelling French drama series tells the tragic true story of a rapist who terrorized a community for decades. Directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, known for his insightful crime documentaries, “Sambre” shines a light on the devastating impact of these crimes through the experiences of the women who survived them.

Taking place in northern France from the late 1980s onwards, the series examines a period where sexual assaults were often not treated with appropriate seriousness. We meet Christine, the first reported victim, in the show’s opening episode. Through painstakingly-crafted scenes, we experience the trauma of her attack and the further humiliation of her mistreatment by authorities when she courageously steps forward.

Subsequent episodes maintain this empathetic focus on victims. We see how doubts and struggles with comprehension follow them through their lives. Each works through trauma in their own way, but all must battle to be heard amid the...

San Sebastian — From when it began to incorporate Spanish TV series in its Official Selection – think 2017’s “The Plague” or 2020’s double whammy of “Patria” and “Riot Police” – San Sebastián has used its first Saturday to debate TV issues.

This time round, a panel highlighted crime series, featuring Movistar Plus+’s Susana Herreras, Laura Sarmiento, showrunner of Netflix hit “Intimacy” and lead writer on “Burning Body,” and Elías León Siminiani, co-creator of the 2017 docuseries “El caso Asunta (Operación Nenúfar)” which inspired the 2024 Netflix fiction series, “El Caso Asunta.”

Six takes on the panel discussion:

Spanish Crime Series Boom

The panel was entitled in Spanish “The Spanish Crime Series Boom.” That seems an understatement. According to Variety research, through Sept. 13 this year, seven Spanish titles hit No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Non-English TV series charts, occupying the top-charting position for a total 15 of the period’s total 35 weeks. That’s a...

“The Killing” star Sofie Gråbøl will serve as the president of this year’s Canneseries competition jury, it was announced on Tuesday.

The Danish actor kickstarted her career with the 1986 film “Barndommens gade” (“The Streets of My Childhood”) and is known for her TV roles including “The Killing,” “Nikolaj og Julie” and “Taxa.”

Joining Gråbøl on the jury are “Madame Hollywood” director, screenwriter and producer Olivier Abbou; “Four Daughters” composer Amine Bouhafa; “City of God” actor Alice Braga; “Blancanieves” actor Macarena García; and “Samber” actor Alix Poisson.

Together, the jury will judge the eight series in competition and unveil the winners on April 10. The series competing in the festival’s main lineup include “Dark Horse” (Denmark), “Dumbsday” (Norway), “Living on a Razor’s Edge” (Brazil), “Moresnet” (Belgium), “Operation Sabre” (Serbia), “This Is Not Sweden” (Spain and Sweden), “To the Wonder” (China) and “The Zweiflers” (Germany).

“This upcoming edition feels like the...

Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind docuseries “The Staircase,” has once again struck a chord with “Samber,” a limited series about a French serial rapist that explores the damages of sexual violence against women and children.

“Samber,” a six-part thriller series directed by de Lestrade, charts the true case of Dino Scala, a seemingly ordinary family man who sexually assaulted and raped more than 50 women and minors over three decades in Northeastern France. In spite of several victims filing complaints, Scala was able to slip through the cracks of France’s judicial system and benefited from a complacent stance toward sexual abuses. He was eventually arrested in February 2018 and found guilty of 17 rapes, 12 attempted rapes and 27 sexual assaults or attempts. In June 2022, Scala was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Represented in international markets by Federation Studios, the six-part series has captured the zeitgeist in France, which is undergoing a...