Canneseries 2022: World premiere of the Filmstiftung-backed high-end series "Punishment”

• Production by RTL+ and MOOVIE in competition / template after Ferdinand von Schirach
• 2 episodes: "The Thorn" by Hüseyin Tabak and "The Diver" by Oliver Hirschbiegel
• Canneseries from 1 – 6 April on the Côte d’Azur

The Filmstiftung-backed anthology series "Punishment" will be celebrating its world premiere on 5 April in the Grand Auditorium Louis Lumière at this year’s Canneseries Festival which is being held from 1 to 6 April in cooperation with MIPTV to showcase international series from all genres. Two of the series’ six 60-minute episodes produced by MOOVIE for RTL+ have been invited to screen in the "Competition Official Selection 2022" at the international series festival on the Côte d’Azur: "The Thorn" by Hüseyin Tabak and "The Diver" by Oliver Hirschbiegel. "Souls", an eight-part drama series from Sky Original, directed by Alex Eslam and Hanna Maria Heidrich and produced by Geißendörfer Pictures, is another NRW series production invited to the Canneseries 2022 competition. Thus, two of the 10 competition titles are "made in NRW".

"Punishment", the most successful short story collection to date from the author and screenwriter Ferdinand von Schirach, forms the basis for the extraordinary series project. Six German-speaking directors adapted the stories "The Thorn", "The Diver", "The Lake House", "The Lay Judge", "A Light Blue Day" and "Subotnik" for the small screen: Helene Hegemann ("Axolotl Overkill"), Mia Spengler ("Back for Good"), Oliver Hirschbiegel ("Downfall"), Patrick Vollrath ("7500"), Hüseyin Tabak ("Your Beauty Is Worth Nothing") and David Wnendt ("Wetlands"). The Film- und Medienstiftung NRW supported the high-end series with € 850,000, with additional funding coming from MBB and FFF Bayern. The production shot from July to November 2021 at various locations, including 28 days in North Rhine-Westphalia.

For more information: Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Tanja Guess, phone: +49211-93050-23,