Romanian refugee drama wins inaugural European Series Development Award

L-R: Alex Traila, Marc Lorber, Geraldine Laprell and Brigitte Drodtloff at Seriencamp

SERIENCAMP: A drama about a Romanian refugee fighting to rescue her son from a brutal regime will receive €50,000 (US$57,700) towards its development after winning the inaugural European Series Development Award 2026.

Radio Free Europe, created by Brigitte Drodtloff and presented by producer Geraldine Laprell here at the Seriencamp Conference in Cologone, won over a jury of international drama executives to receive the funding boost.

From Germany’s Maze Pictures and Romania’s MicroFilm, the series follows a woman who must step into the paranoid world of espionage and make a fatal choice where saving her child means sacrificing the man she loves, according to the producers.

Launched earlier this year during TV Drama Vision at the Gothenburg Film Festival by the Council of Europe and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the award provides €50,000 in development support for ambitious European drama series with strong international coproduction potential.

The projects were picked following an evaluation process conducted by the EBU Fiction Expert Group, before being presented to the jury and an audience of professionals at this week’s conference in Cologne.

The jury was made up of Elly Vervloet, international drama expert at VRT in Belgium; Alex Traila, programme manager at the Council of Europe; and international executive and founder at The Art of Co-Production Marc Lorber. The EBU Fiction Expert Group includes execs such as Brigitte Dithard of German broadcaster ARD/SWR.

The other projects vying for the prize were Bruxleaks, from Panache Productions in Belgium; How to Fall in Love With a Man Who Lives in a Bush, from the German arm of Dynamic Television in the US; The Candidates, by Motlys in Norway; and The Last Stand by Sweden’s Meta Film Stockholm.

Among the initiative’s aims are to encourage independent European storytelling, strengthen cross-border collaboration, foster partnerships between producers and public service media, and support high-quality scripted content that generates public value while reflecting Europe’s cultural diversity and democratic principles.

The jury said: “Driven by experienced producers behind a truly organic coproduction, this series brings a chapter of not-so-distant history vividly to life.

“Combining sensitivity with striking contemporary relevance, it tells its story through a woman who finds herself becoming a voice for truth and freedom, while its music of joy and protest, and the radio waves they ride upon, carry hope and resistance across borders and generations.”