Unifrance has announced the 4 series that will make up the program for the first edition of Séries Express, a traveling festival due to take place from November 26 to 29, 2026, devised to take French series and their creative teams on a tour to meet international audiences. For this first edition, the festival will stop in Brussels before heading to Amsterdam, where the 4 French series will be presented for the first time.
The selection for this inaugural edition, intended to reflect the ambition and eclecticism of French drama series, was made by Laurent Valière, producer, presenter and journalist for the Culture desk at France Info and France Musique, in consultation with Unifrance.
Of the thirty or so series viewed, 4 high-quality, popular and universal works were selected, featuring leading actors such as Jonathan Zaccaï, Isabelle Nanty and Bérénice Bejo.
The selection places female characters centre stage, with a cast of equally distinctive figures: an unconventional female serial killer, a ‘Handmaid’ in 19th-century France, a pioneering female filmmaker and a female take on Lupin. Spanning genres from thriller to historical drama and comedy, the 4 series also stand out for the diversity of their formats and running times.
Alice: Pioneer of Cinema (6x45')
A series created by Tim Loane & Claire Lemaréchal.• Starring: Bérénice Bejo, Oscar Lesage, Thibaut Evrard, Irène Jacob… • Production co.: HBO Max France & France Télévisions • Co-production co.: Wild Bunch TV, & Ligne de Front, Palermo Production, La Compagnie Cinématographique & Panache Productions, Sphere Media • International distributor: SND – Groupe M6
Paris, 1895: Alice Guy, a young secretary, defies her employer Léon Gaumont and makes the first fiction film in history. Within two years she runs his production company. From the Belle Époque to the birth of Hollywood, she builds an empire, raises two children, and becomes one of the highest-paid women in America, before losing everything to the men she loved and vanishing from the history she created.
Country Spy (6x52')
A series created by Diane Clavier & Samantha Mazeras.• Starring: Isabelle Nanty, Nicolas Gob, Stéfi Celma, Erika Sainte… • Production co.: DMLS Films (Groupe Banijay) • Co-production co.: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma & TF1 • International distributor: About Premium Content
Marie-Line Maupain, a secret service spy for thirty years, is abruptly put on ice and sent back to her remote home region, Cantal, where she is supposed to maintain a low profile. Marie-Line cannot resign herself to a new normal life: when she meets police captain Bruno Lafon, her spy instinct quickly takes over, and she begins investigating his cases behind his back. With very different but complementary methods, the two soon form a powerful investigating duo.
Fertile (6x26')
A series created by Anaïs Fabre & Cédric Le Gallo • Starring: Laurence Arné, Pablo Pauly, Elsa Zylberstein, Alex Ramirès… • Production co.: Vacarme Stories (Label de Kabo) • Co-production co.: ARTE France & Le Gallo Films • Distribution internationale : Fremantle
After years of gruelling IVF, Zoé’s dream of motherhood is shattered when her doctor confirms it's no longer possible for her to fall pregnant. But a freak accident changes everything. When she accidentally kills her obnoxious neighbour, Zoé discovers a shocking, miraculous side effect – her fertility has returned. Convinced that murder is now her only path to motherhood, this desperate architect transforms into a calculating serial killer, choosing victims she believes the world is better off without.
The story escalates as her husband, Alexandre, a crime reporter, is assigned to the case. He becomes obsessed with the mysterious female vigilante nicknamed “Marie Martin,” completely unaware he is hunting his own wife. As Zoé’s bloody mission and Alexandre’s investigation converge in a tense cat-and-mouse game, she uncovers a terrifying family secret that suggests her killer instinct may not be an accident, but an inheritance.
Swapped (6x52')
A series created by Alexandra Echkenazi & Vincent Robert.• Starring: Lula Cotton Frapier, Barbara Probst, Jonathan Zaccaï, Cécile Rebboah… • Production co.: Lincoln TV,• Co-production co.: France Télévisions, La Compagnie Cinématographique, & Panache Productions • International distributor: France tv distribution
Paris, 1889. Hoping to offer her baby a better future, Rose leaves her rural home to become a wet nurse for a bourgeois family. She meets Odette, a midwife, who warns her: she won’t be allowed to keep her own child with her. A risky solution presents itself to Rose: secretly exchange her baby with that of Hélène de Gersande, a mother grieving the sudden loss of her infant.
Rose, Odette, and Hélène—three women from very different backgrounds—will have to join forces to carve out a place for themselves in a male-dominated world, and claim their freedom.
The detailed event schedule and ticketing information will be available soon.
The Series Express festival receives valuable support from the sponsors of the Unifrance Endowment Fund: Accor (Great Patron), BNP Paribas (Patron), and Maison Pommery & Associés (Patron).
