A+E Networks EMEA uncovers Dictators’ Hideouts with Poland’s Inbornmedia

Documentary series Dictators’ Hideouts

A+E Networks EMEA has commissioned a six-part series about the luxurious mansions and ominous shelters owned by infamous dictators, produced by Warsaw-based TV production company Inbornmedia and pre-bought by NTV in Germany.

Dictators’ Hideouts will air on Sky History in the UK and The History Channel in Poland, Romania and other Central and Eastern European countries and on RTL Group-owned free-to-air news and documentary channel NTV in Germany.

Each episode will focus on the private sanctuary of a different European autocrat including Albania’s Enver Hoxha, Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych and Romania’s Nicolae Ceaușescu, as well as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin.

Viewers will be taken on a visual journey through the construction and design of the remote palaces, underground bunkers and fortified compounds that served both as symbols of power and retreats from the outside world.

Sales for the series are being spearheaded by Sam Thompson at Instrumental and the show will be available for international distribution in 2024.

Dan Korn, VP of programming at A+E Networks EMEA, said: “With Europe once again plunged into conflict, it’s fascinating to look back at what these edifices and fortresses tell us about the mindsets and paranoia of European rulers and tyrants of yesteryear.”

Christian Hensgens, channel manager for NTV at RTL Germany, said: “We look for historical content that seems timely in its premise and contemporary in its production, enabling new ways of looking at things.

“Dictators’ Hideouts presents viewers with a dark and yet fascinating world that’s often shrouded in mystery, alongside notorious historical figures. By giving unprecedented access through CGI, this series will deliver perfectly to our demands.”