Arte France’s Alexandre Piel Unveils New Nordic TV Buys, Talks Co-Production Spirit (EXCLUSIVE)

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Arté France, the prestigious French public broadcasting network, has turned the Nordic region into one of its major markets for TV dramas alongside the U.K., thanks to hit shows like “The Killing” from 2010 and “Borgen” in 2012.

In 2015, the Norwegian series ‘Occupied’ marked a significant milestone as it was the channel’s first collaboration with European partners in producing event shows. Now, this esteemed network has expanded its reach by acquiring and co-producing series across Europe. However, the Nordic region continues to play a pivotal role in their drama programming, with a budget of €33 million ($34.3 million) allocated for 2025 towards co-productions and acquisitions.”

Or, more concisely:

“‘Occupied’, a Norwegian futuristic political thriller, was the first event co-production by this broadcaster with European partners in 2015. Today, they have expanded their series acquisitions and co-productions across Europe, but the Nordic region remains crucial to their overall drama programming, with a budget of €33 million ($34.3 million) allocated for 2025 towards co-productions and acquisitions.

As the French-Nordic Drama Connection at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision event (January 28-29) approaches, marking a significant gathering of French and Nordic professionals in the drama field, Alexandre Piel, deputy head of drama at Arte France, has revealed his upcoming Nordic drama collaborations and co-productions scheduled for 2025.

Alexandre Piel, deputy head of drama at Arte France, shared his plans for Nordic drama collaborations and co-productions with French professionals during the French-Nordic Drama Connection event at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision showcase (January 28-29). These projects are set to launch in 2025.

Liv” – a Norwegian hospital series on Altibox, created by genre expert Shuuto, explores the complexities of family relationships and hidden truths. It features Jesper Malm (“Ragnarok”) and Charlotte Grundt (“22 July”) in leading roles.

Nearby on this platform-driven event are the series “Carmen Curlers” (Seasons 1 and 2) from DR Drama in Denmark, and “Mobile 101” from Rabbit Films in Finland. These series follow the stories of iconic national brands: the electric hair curlers “Carmen Curlers,” and Nokia phones. Additionally, the critically acclaimed and blockbuster hit “Pørni,” created by Norwegian star actress Henriette Steenstrup for Monster and TV2 Norway, is also available here.

Some popular crime series returning will be “Bron” (known as “The Bridge”), a cult favorite with four seasons available for binge-watching, the highly successful Swedish show “Sandhamn Murders,” which has gained significant popularity on a French broadcaster, and the suspenseful Danish production “DNA”, co-produced by Arte France and TV2 Denmark.

At the same time, three recent high-profile productions from Arte France are planned for release in France towards the end of 2025 or early 2026. These include “Faithless,” directed by Tomas Alfredson and premiering at Göteborg’s Nordic Light section, “A Life’s Worth” which is set amidst the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s, and “Reykjavik Fusion,” an Icelandic crime drama with a unique concept. Both “A Life’s Worth” and “Reykjavik Fusion” will be showcased at TV Drama Vision’s Works in Progress.

According to Piel, “Variety is crucial for us; we aim to avoid being pigeonholed into a specific genre.” By carefully selecting our series programming, we strive to keep our audience engaged and inspired with unexpected content. Our editorial approach emphasizes open-mindedness and connection-building so that viewers can effortlessly transition from one program to another, and from one country’s culture to another.

We create captivating and intellectually stimulating content that delves into the complexities and challenges of a rapidly polarizing global society. Our unique identity, rooted in democratic values and humanitarian principles, sets us apart.

For Piel, the fundamental values of the European cultural channel align closely with those of Nordic public service broadcasters, frequent collaborators like TV2 Denmark for “DNA”, Norway’s NRK for “Countrymen”, Iceland’s RÚV for “Blackport”, and Sweden’s SVT for “Faithless”.

New Co-Production Spirit

Delving further into Arte France’s collaborative production approach, Piel, who oversees international dramas and shares the French roster with Agnès Olier, head of drama, explains that his objective is to cater to both the Thursday primetime slot on the linear channel and the digital platform arte.tv, which, along with Arte’s social media offerings, experienced a 20% increase in 2024 over 2023, amassing a total of 2.7 billion views. With only seven co-productions annually, each project is carefully selected and scrutinized. This approach allows them to be innovative, daring, and impactful when presenting content to our audience, creating a diverse yet consistent product, Piel asserts.

Projects involving international collaborators can be categorized as minority co-productions, equal productions, or originated by Arte France, where Arte France’s investments may amount to up to 25% for premium programs like “Faithless” or “A Life’s Worth.” Piel refers to “Faithless,” directed by the Swedish director known for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” as a typical high-profile production from an esteemed talent, similar to Arte France’s work with Rodrigo Sorogoyen on “The New Years” (commissioned by Spain’s Movistar Plus+), Marco Bellocchio on “Exterior Night” (shown at Cannes) and the upcoming “Portobello” series, which is currently being filmed.

I was fortunate enough to jump on board early with Miso Film and SVT on ‘Faithless.’ Working with them has been a breeze. Given Niels Arden Oplev’s exceptional skillset and his plans to reinterpret Ingmar Bergman’s original screenplay, I couldn’t resist being involved in a project that would make such a significant impact on European cinema.

Regarding “A Life’s Worth,” which is a production by Banijay Nordic’s banner, Yellow Bird, and was initiated by Arte France, Piel joined the team as early as 2019. This was after Stefan Baron, a senior Swedish TV executive and former head of business affairs at Yellow Bird, presented him with the project. The project was inspired by the novel with the same title written by Magnus Ernström.

The tale of a band of young UN soldiers from Sweden, led by their commander, battling the intricacies of war in the Balkans during the 1990s, piqued his interest. He was eager to launch a fresh endeavor exploring Europe’s contemporary shared past, much like Bellocchio’s perspective on Italy’s former Prime Minister Aldo Moro’s 1978 abduction and murder in “Exterior Night.

Titling “Edvin Ryding” (from “Young Royals”), “Maxwell Cunningham” (from “Top Dog”), and “Erik Enge” (from “Tigers”), the upcoming six-part series is currently in post-production. This production is a co-creation, with Viaplay Content Distribution taking charge of worldwide distribution.

Regarding “Reykjavik Fusion,” the crime series produced by ACT4 for Síminn in Iceland, which revolves around a former convict who becomes a chef, Piel found it to be an enjoyable chance to collaborate once more with his enthusiastic, talented, and entertaining Icelandic counterparts. This comes after their successful partnership on the fishing quota drama “Blackport” with Vesturport.

Speaking about Arte France’s growing international focus and transition away from strictly French/foreign-language divisions, Piel acknowledges that it took some time to embrace a mindset where stories and creators’ visions, rather than nationality or language, guide the production process. Arte France’s experience over the past three years on globally-oriented flagship projects like “No Man’s Land” Season 2 directed by Rotem Shamir and the chess thriller “Remake” from showrunner Yan England, was crucial in shaping what Piel terms as “Arte’s new spirit,” a spirit that is authentically and fundamentally European.

For instance, ‘The Affair’ showrunner Hagai Levy is working on his next project, a biopic titled ‘Etty.’ This film tells the story of a young woman living under German occupation in the Netherlands who learns to face hardship and cherish life. The production will primarily be filmed in Amsterdam, using both German and Dutch languages. SWR from Germany and NPO from the Netherlands are involved as partners, but the series is entirely funded by French investors. This project is a collaboration between Les Films du Poisson from France, Topkapi Films from the Netherlands, KomplizenFilm from Germany, and Quiddity from Italy.

Regarding Arte France’s role during the creation and production process, a French executive explains that their drama department serves more as guardians than active participants. They allow projects to develop naturally while posing questions to the producers in order to protect and further the project’s artistic integrity.

Moving ahead, Piel expresses optimism that the next phase involves collaborating with broadcasting allies, extending to the Nordic region among others. There’s been a shuffle of positions in this region, which has caused minor turbulence for our business due to its reliance on personal relationships. However, we have robust and enduring connections in the Nordics. We will undoubtedly maintain our current relationships with broadcasters and platforms, while also initiating new dialogues.

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2025-01-27 12:22