Red Rainbow, a drama series with LGBTQIA+ elements set in 1979 Soviet Union, has been selected as the winner of the Series Mania Forum Best Project Award to kick off European TV confab’s annual Co-Pro Pitching Sessions. A check for €50,000 was presented Monday to producer Alexander Rodnyansky of AR Content/Non-Stop Production and writer Matt Jones for the eight-episode series, which was selected by a jury who heard pitches from 15 projects.
Based on a true story, Red Rainbow follows three young gay activists from West Berlin who are invited to the USSR for an official visit. They are thrilled to see the country of their socialist dreams, not realizing that being gay is a crime there.
“We were incredibly impressed with all of the pitches, yet it was the strong story and LGBTQIA+ elements of Red Rainbow that helped us to reach a unanimous decision,” said jury president Polly Williams of Federation UK. “The pitch was very original and at the heart of the story was a warmth. This is a narrative that is still very relevant today and a story that definitely needs to be told.”
The jury also included Daniel Campos Pavoncelli, (Italy), Head of Film and TV, Partner, Indiana Production PSA SPA; Sened Dhab (France), VP Digital Scripted, France Télévisions; Mar Diaz, (Spain), Fiction Executive Producer, RTV; and Maria Feldman (USA/Israel), producer and creator, Masha.
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Series Mania runs through September 2 in Lille, France.