Series So Long, Marianne, which tells the love story between singer Leonard Cohen and his muse, is the first Canadian fiction to be in the running in the International Competition category of the Series Mania Festival. More than 50 new works will be presented from March 15 to 22 in Lille, France.
“ So Long, Marianne tells one of the most iconic love stories of the last century,” said Pablo Salzman, president and executive producer of C3 Media. Produced by Øystein Karlsen and Bronwen Hughes, this work reveals a little-known side of Leonard Cohen, he believes.
As part of the festival, this Norway-Canada-Greece co-production will compete against seven other series from the four corners of the globe to win the Grand Prize. Among the finalists we find Apples Never Fall (United States / Australia), Hotel Cocaine (UNITED STATES), House of Gods (Australia), Boarders (United Kingdom), In the dark (France), Rematch (France) and Herrhausen, The Banker and The Bomb (Germany).
The event, which welcomed 85,000 participants in 2023, will present 26 world premiere series this year, including So Long, Marianne. The role of Leonard Cohen is played by the American Alex Wolff, while that of his flame, Marianne, is played by the Norwegian Thea Sofie Loch Naess.
Quebecers are also part of the cast, such as actors Macha Grenon and Éric Bruneau, as well as author and performer Patrick Watson. The show will be available in the coming months on the Crave platform.
Other Quebecers at the festival
Concerning the “International Panorama” section of the festival, the Quebec series Separate company from Club illico is among the 12 finalists. Antoine Pilon plays the role of Marc, a ufologist who pursues a quest to make sense of the mysterious disappearance of his brother.
In the Short Formats category, we find the fiction of Montrealer Lex Garcia, Papineau doesn’t mind, offered on ICI Tou.tv Extra since last November. The work addresses the grief experienced by Jojo, a single-parent father and widower, as well as his two young sons.
The show The forgotten, directed by Quebecer Bertrand Desrochers, has carved out a place for itself in the Comedies category of Séries Mania. The series broadcast on Unis TV features a 26-year-old woman, Emma (Héloise Desrochers), who gets hired in a medieval restaurant to manage to repay her debts.