South International Series Festival: ‘American Hostage,’ Ronan Bennett, Great European Series and Andalusia’s TV Build

Opening on Oct. 30 with “American Hostage,” honoring “Toy Boy” showrunner Ronan Bennett and “Money Heist” star Alvaro Morte, the fourth edition of South International Series Festival weighs in with a mouthwatering fiction competition, dominated by series from Europe, and an ever stronger Andalusian presence.

“The aim of the festival is to keep growing,” says director Carles Montiel. One growth axis is “international scope,” the other one “connecting Andalusia’s industry with the rest of Spain and abroad.”

It has already come far on both counts, while backing from Spain looks assured. “We have already reached a certain level of recognition from Spanish producers, Spanish broadcasters, Spanish platforms and streaming services which consider us an attractive festival,” Montiel adds.

That tells in a Fiction Competition which sources four world premieres, three from two of Spain’s most bullish streaming services in Spain.

Movistar Plus, the biggest Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator – behind “La Bola Negra,” “The Beloved” and “Querer” and now “The Castle” and “Killing a Bear” – brings “Patagonia,” a high-stakes race against time missing son/eco thriller with “Money Heist” and “Intimacy” star Itziar Ituño, and “The Center,” Season 2 which lifts the lid on the hidden world of Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI) winning fans for an espionage thriller which is fully grounded in the daily lives of its operatives.

“Infamy,” a slow-burn cold case psychological thriller set and shot in a benighted town in the Basque Country’s Bizkaia, is a first window HBO Max acquisition for Spain.

A fourth world premiere, “Stepping Up,” created, written and starring Josh Pugh (“Sneakerhead,” “How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge)”) weighs is as a half-hour series expansion of Pugh’s short-format “Stepping Up: Channel 4 Comedy Blap.”

The series is produced by the U.K’s Roughcut Television (“Big Boys,” “Things You Should Have Done”), founded by “The Office” producer Ash Attala.

South’s other five Fiction Competition titles are backed by movers and shakers on the European scene: “Still Breathing” is backed by Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, a consistent source of top-notch drama such as “A Better Man”; “Someone Should Ban Sunday Afternoons,” from Spain’s Isabel Coixet, is one of the latest series aired On Arte, behind Series Mania standout “Etty,” and produced by France’s Maui Entertainment, headed by “The Bureau” showrunner Eric Rochant.

German public network ARD Degeto, plus international distributor Beta Film, a driving force behind European sculpted shows, both back “Blindspot Berlin.”

“Snake Killer marks Amazon MGM Studios’ first Danish original. It will act as a flagship for a delegation of Danish producers and broadcaster execs that will hit Cadiz’s SISF. Bedeviled by rising costs, as the rest of the world, Denmark’s industry is eager to co-produce. “They’re looking for partners in Spain, not just because of the rebates, I guess, but its landscapes and light, especially in Andalusia, which can help evolve series beyond their borders,” says Montiel.

The Stars and Panels

SISF honors showrunner-writer Bennett (“Top Boy,” “The Day of the Jackal”), Alvaro Morte, “Money Heist’s” professor, and Ana Duato (“Remember When”); Isabel Coixet delivers a masterclass. Of multiple, Industry talks take in The Young Adult Phenomenon: Literary Adaptations Without Borders, analyzing Wattpad adaptations from “Mala influencia” to “Boulevard,” to the international impact of series like “My Life with the Walter Boys,” produced by Sony Pictures Television International for Netflix. Wattpad Webtoon Studios’ Mar Vila, Sony Pictures Television’s Celia Duffy and Spotlight Media’s Anxo Rodriguez are speakers. One Creative Talks highlight looks set to be a mano a mano on directing between Javier Ruiz Caldera, fresh off San Sebastián hit “5 More Minutes,” and Paco Cabezas, (“Wednesday,” “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon”), also director of the fearsome “La nena,” which screens at SISF.

Non-Fiction Buzz Titles

South International Series Festival will showcase at least one non-fiction gem: “The Oligarch and the Art Dealer,” an Arte series – again – co-created, written and directed by Andreas Dalsgaard charting the $1 billion dispute between Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier and Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and the currency of the ultra-rich: Investing in art. “Better than gold. Better than diamonds,” says Dalsgaard. Highly rated, the three-part docusueries has already proved a Sundance and CPH-DOX highlight.

There’s good word too on “The Dirty Years: Where is Nani?” from Mediaset España, using talking heads and archive footage to reconstruct the case of “El Nani,” a young small time criminal who disappeared in police custody in 1983. The subsequent court case involving the Francoist throwback police culprits became a show trial for Spain’s young democracy.

SISF: Maintains Its Hallmark Diversity

Sporting a high-voltage U.S. play in “American Hostage” and a clutch of premium agenda-driven series, South International Series Festival will close on Nov. 4 with “Física o Química. The New Generation” Season 2. Set to bow in December on free-to-air broadcast network Atresmedia’s SVOD feed Atresplayer, it reps a resurrection of an iconic 2008-11 high school series which launched the careers of “La Bola Negra’s” Javier Calvo and “Money Heist’s” Úrsula Corberó. “Diversity is one of the key elements for us right now,” says Montiel. “We want to reach a wide audience, sometimes screening series which otherwise won’t be seen in Spain, but also broadening industry connections.”

Andalusia Calling

Projects submitted to Boost, SISF’s Andalusia-focused co-production platform, have risen from around 15 the first year, 25-30 in 2025 and over 60 this year, says Montiel. That’s symptomatic of broader growth and the reputation of SISF of forging industry contacts. A new industry umbrella initiative, South Connect, targeting Andalusia’s industry, creates meeting and networking opportunities for producers, Andalusia-based directors and location managers, “We would like to help the Andalusian industry to connect more with the Spanish and international industry,” says Montiel. SISF section Sur profiles series either from Andalusian companies, led this year by the feel-good second chance drama “Olivia,” from Womack Producciones, or Andalusia-born directors, such as Paco Cabezas, creator of the envelope-pushing crime thriller “La Nena,” or shot in part in Spain’s broader south, such as Netflix hit “The Glass Cuckoo.”

A closer look at SISF’s Fiction Competition:

“American Hostage,” (Shawn Ryan, Eileen Myers, U.S)

MGM+ true-events-based crime thriller “American Hostage,” produced by Sony Pictures Television, set in 1977 and led by “Mad Men” star John Hamm playing a respected Indianapolis radio host phoned by a madman hostage taker (Giovani Ribisi) who demands to be interviewed. A Toronto Primetime world premiere, the series has been mostly well received by critics. Hamm’s performance is “chamber music,” says John Anderson in The Wall Street Journal. Ribisi’s, he adds, is “death metal.”

“Blindspot Berlin,” (David Nawrath, Germany)

On Dec. 19, 2016, a truck plowed into a crowd at a local Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 and injuring dozens. Headed by “All Quiet on the Western Front’ star Albrecht Schuch, “Blindspot Berlin” tracks rookie Isra (Bayan Layla) and police investigator Frank (Schuch) as they battle to prevent the attack, chronicling “systemic failures and human errors,” says creator Nawrath (“Your Honor”). Produced by Neuesuper (“8 Days”) with among others, German broadcast giant ARD Degeto.

“The Center,” Season 2 (David Moreno, Spain)

Fast-paced, fulsomely budgeted and ranging from Strasbourg to El Salvador, Season 1 saw Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI) race to unmask a traitor and foil a Russia-led conspiracy.

In its second outing, a brutal double assassination unleashes a wave of hatred in Spain as CNI head Michelín (Juan Diego Botto) battles to save his wife, kidnapped by the Russian intelligence services. Rising Spanish scripted stars David Moreno and David Ulloa, behind Canneseries title “The Immortal,” return as creator and director for Season 2.

‘Infamy,’ (‘Infamia,’ Agustina Macri, Beatriz Sanchís, Spain)

Starring Susana Abaitua, who broke out in “Crazy About You” and “Patria,” then carried the weight of big Netflix ETA infiltrator movie “She Walks in Darkness.” Here she plays Emma Cruz, a lawyer investigating the disappearance of two girls 20 years ago in her hometown. A dark atmospheric thriller, says Variety, which “alternates between moments of stillness and slow-burn tension, where emotions, silences, and discomfort have time to emerge,” adds lead director Macri.

‘Patagonia,’ (Patricio Pereira, María Elena Wood, Spain, Chile)

Itziar Ituño plays a Basque teacher whose son Noah disappears without trace in the depths of Patagonia’s dazzling millennial-old larch tree forests. She flies to Chile to find him. Ending on a huge cliffhanger in Ep. 2, the series look set to lift to another level as a family drama gaining large social point when Alicia decides to stay in Hornopirén, the northern gateway to Patagonia, to battle illegal logging mafias.

‘Snake Killer,’ Anders Olholm, Amazon MGM. Studios, Denmark

Brutal – one early brawl with a potential informant goes on for minutes – a blunt crime thriller driven by a terrific turn from Pilou Asbæk (“Game of Thrones”) as Brian “Smiley” Petersen, head of Copenhagen’s notorious no-rule-book Uropatruljen narcotics squad. Mixing “the familiar mechanisms from the classic American cop cinema and Danish social realism,” director Anders Ølholm has told Variety, produced by Nordisk Film Production, and acquired for international by Reinvent Yellow.

“Somebody Should Ban Sunday Afternoons,” Isabel Coixet, Arte, France

Released on energetic pan-European public broadcaster Arte in March, after Isabel Coixet had hit a home run with movie “Three Goodbyes.” Tim Robbins makes guest appearances in a drama comedy miniseries where three twenty-something film buff flatmates spend Sunday afternoons watching the saddest films they can find, while navigating existential qualms. A tribute o French cinema – Agnès Varda,Chantal Akerman. “Melancholic, touching and sometimes chatty,” said Le Parisien in an upbeat review.

“Still Breathing,” (Karianne Lund, NRK, Norway)

Announced by Variety last May, it follows Petra, 26, an idealistic medical intern at an under-funded Norwegian hospital, joins three other young doctors facing impossible moral dilemmas of a health system stretched beyond the limit. Teaming “Occupied” writer Karianne Lund, “Safe House” director Erik Svensson and “Beforeigners” producer Rubicon TV, a Banijay company, a series which is agenda-driven but “raw and gripping,” international distributor DR Sales told Variety.

“Stepping Up,” (Josh Pugh, Channel 4, U.K.)

A chosen family comedy sitcom with Pugh playing Josh, a desperate to help stepdad and to come across as a “good bloke.” Problem is his family doesn’t have any problems. “The perfect mix of hyper silly and hyper real,” said Charlie Perkins, head of come, Channel 4, when announcing the six-part series order. If it’s anything as good as the supremely top-notch cringemaking short format on Channel 4 Comedy Blaps, Cadiz is in for a treat.

What South Says About International TV?

New Models

Described as a Movistar Plus “Exclusive” rather than Original, “Patagonia” marks the first major premium series from the biggest Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator whose creators are not Spanish but rather María Elena Wood (“News of a Kidnapping,” “Dignity”) and Patricio Pereira (“Mary & Mike”), pioneers of premium TV fiction in Chile as Movistar Plus in Spain. Directing is Chile’s Rodrigo Susarte, helmer on 2025 breakout “Hidden Island.” The Basque Country’s Atlantika Films, headed by Nano Arrieta and Claudia Ruiz, also produces. “Patagonia” is a “new way of producing international fiction,” says Arrieta.

’Hyper Distribution’

Partnering Movistar Plus, which has its own international TV distribution operation, “Patagonia” is sold, however, by Germany’s go-getting ZDF Studios. As global streaming services take first TV window in Spain, that leaves series open to negotiate other territory tights. Disney+, for instance, bowed Olivia on July 1 but Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group handles international distribution. Netflix’s third quarter results highlighted aggregation deals with TF1 and Globo. Such tie.ups are well established in Spain as its TV scene opens up. Mediaset España has a years-old co-releasing alliance with Prime Video. Disney+ streams 300 hours of Atresplayer and parent Atresmedia from a deal announced in September 2025.

Just How Good Is European Scripted?

“Still Breathing” is billed as Norway’s answer to “The Pitt.” Its debut this April gave NRK its biggest-ever opening for a drama outside of the pubcaster’s Christmas shows. Backing also comes from two institutions on Europe’s TV scene: a prized pick-up by New8, a network of Nordic public broadcasters and Germany’s ZDF, Netherlands NPO and Belgium’s VRT. Coin from the Banijay Scripted Fund allowed for a deep dive in early development research. It’s scored a great 8.5 audience review on IMDB. Its reception at Cadiz and possible plaudits will test its audience reach beyond its Northern European homeland,

France Looks to Spain

Few broadcasters are as bullish about building a European TV production network than Arte, which brings Isabel Coixet’s “Someone Should Ban Sunday Afternoons” to Cadiz. Coixet is just the latest major Spanish talent produced or co-produced by Arte which also takes in Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“The New Years”), Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo (“Killing a Bear”) and Alberto Rodríguez (“The Anatomy of a Moment”), now nominated for an Intl. Emmy, All three series are Movistar Plus Originals. Spain burst on the international TV scene in 2018 when “Money Heist” gave Netflix its first non-English global blockbuster. It has now seen second phase lift-off, primarily through France.

South International Series Festival’s 2026 Lineup

Fiction Competition

“American Hostage,” (Shawn Ryan, Eileen Myers, U.S.)

“Blindspot Berlin,” (David Nawrath, David Marian, Germany)

“El centro,” Season 2,” (David Moreno, Spain)

“Infamy,” (Manuel Gancedo, Eduardo Torallas, Spain)

“Patagonia,” (Patricio Pereira, María Elena Wood, Spain, Chile)

“Snake Killer,” (Anders Ølholm, Denmark)

“Someone Should Ban Sunday Afternoons” (Isabel Coixet, France)

“Stepping Up,” (Josh Pugh, U.K.)

“Still Breathing,” (Karianne Lund, Norway)

Non-Fiction Section

“Ian Fleming and the Curse of James Bond,” (Adam Low, U.K.)

“The Oligarch and the Art Dealer,” (Christoph Jörg, Andreas Dalsgaard, Denmark, France)

“Trade Secret: The Polar Bear Market,” (Abraham Joffe, Australia, U.K.)

“Tuenti. Unfiltered,” (Toni Garrido, Pablo Gonzalez Batista, Spain)

“Magical,” (Gonzalo Lamela, Javier Krause, Uruguay, Spain, U.S.)

“The Dirty Years: Where is Nani?,” (Susana López Raña, Spain)

“Ricardi: The Perfect Culprit,” (Jorge Decarlini, Spain)

Special Screenings

“Perfectly Imperfect,” (Jesus Sotomayor, Spain)

“Antoñito Molina – A Dream: From the Beach Bar to the Stadium,” (Diego Corsini, Spain)

“Millennial Mal,” (Lorena Iglesias, Spain, Portugal)

“Entre tierras S2,” (Susana López Rubio, Juan Beiro, Joaquín Santamaría, Spain)

“Física o Química. The New Generation S2,” (Carlos García Miranda, Spain)

Sur

“The Greatest,” (Alexis Morante, Raúl Santos Manzanares, Spain)

“The Photo of the Tile,” (Javier Oliver García, Juan Utrilla de Noriega, Spain)

“One Hundred Years of Copla,” (Antonio Reina, Spain)

“Olivia,” (David Troncoso and Flipy, Spain)

“La nena,” (Paco Cabezas, Jordi Frades, Spain)

“The Glass Cuckoo,” (Jesús Mesas Silva, Javier Andrés Roig, Spain)

Advances

“Todo tiene su fin. Origin and legend of Medina Azahara,” (Manu Guerrero, Spain)

“A Century of the Generation of ’27: the Poetry That Changed the World,” (Pedro Luis Gómez, Spain)

“Poets and Other Animals,” (Juan Antonio Rodríguez Llano, Pototo Díez, Spain)

Revival

“The Ministry of Time,” (Pablo Olivares, Javier Olivares, Spain)