‘Universality & National Identity in European TV Drama : local narratives reaching across borders’

Universality & National Identity in European TV Drama : local narratives reaching across borders
In this conference, we stage an encounter between various people concerned with quality TV drama: academics, writers, producers and broadcasters, coming from different national traditions, around the question of national identity versus universality. In an age of more and more transnational TV, reigned by coproduction and new distributors, we see that many series that appeal to broad audiences manage to tell universal stories in a very local setting, including languages and cultures that not just forms the backdrop of the story, but also an integral part of the stories. Scandinavian series are of course in point. How can this very local content be understood by a broad audience while also retaining authenticity? To what extent do European co-productions also create new narrative patterns, certainly in relation to a still dominant American tradition? To what extent is the local content of European series also reflective of a European identity?

Programme:
14:00 > 15:00 Keynote Transnational television and the appeal of the local in a global world - Andrea Esser
15:00 > 16:00 Keynote Danish television drama: Negotiating national and international success – Eva Novrup Redvall
With the international interest in television serials such as The Killing and Borgen, Danish television drama moved from the national to the international spotlight in the 2010s. This talk analyses some of the benefits and challenges of this new development for a small nation production culture when trying to negotiate how to attract foreign financing and fans while remaining relevant to national audiences.
16:00 > 16:30 Coffee break
16:30 > 18:00 Round table Local content for a broad audience. Aanlyzing  Belgian and Nordic industries from a European Perspectives
With Eva Novrup Redvall (Professor University of Kopenhagen), Jan De Clercq (CEO Lumière), Eric Wirix (executive producer De Mensen), Ward Hulselmans (screenwriter)
Moderator:  Matteo Solaro (Head of Sector TV Prog., Audience & Innov. App. – Creative Europe EACEA)