As part of the International Serial Festival “Series Mania” in Lille, the new New8 projects were presented today on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. The partners of the public law cooperation in the fictional area-SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), Yle (Finland), RUV (Iceland), NRK (Norway), VRT (Flanders, Belgium), NPO (Netherlands) and ZDF (Germany)-have already co-produced eight fictional series since the start of New8 in July 2023. The aim of the cooperation is to reflect the diversity of society across national borders and to address a wide audience. Now there are eight other series projects.
Jasmin Maeda, Head of the main editorial team of International Fiction: “The previous success of the cooperation underlines the relevance and quality of the New8 projects-but also the Power European co-productions: We are very proud to present the new projects of New8 cooperation here in Lille. The variety of genres, topics and stories are one of the great strengths. ‘The Cum-Ex’ or ‘Kabul’ affair stand for themselves and show the power of European productions. “
For two series of the new slate, the ZDF takes over again: the Eco thriller “Phoenix“Talks the story of young people from different European countries who take the children of the CEOs of the” Four Wastes “(four corporations the most damage) in the run -up to a business summit in the French Alps and, together with their victims, entrench themselves in the mountains. They want to force the business bosses to save the climate. Télévisions and Maze Pictures.
The second series “The dark (Engl. The Dark Ones) “is about dangerous beings that enter the life of people on an island in the North Sea. But they are neither monster nor demons, but also humans-strictly the worst possible versions of the residents there, dubious doppelgangers who want to exchange the place with them. The only one who may stop them is a young woman looking for her origin. Movie and Studio are staged.
The first eight series that were created in this cooperation have already been published, including some who were recognized nationally and internationally: for the series “Push” introduced by the ZDF, for example, Katja Benrath and Mia Maariel Meyer in 2024 were awarded the German television award in the “Best Director” category. The drama series “Kabul”, a production of the European Alliance and from ZDF into the New8, takes part in this year’s “International Competition” by “Series Mania”, nevertheless, like the series “Generations” introduced by DR. The ZDF co-production “The Cum-Ex” affair was also brought to the New8, which was the only series in the “Panorama” of the Berlinale this year. Jan Schomburg’s German-Danish series can currently be streamed on ZDF.de and will soon be shown on Sunday, April 13, 2025, and Monday, April 14, 2024, from 10:15 p.m., on ZDF.
Press photos
You can get photos of “New8” as Download (after login), by email to pressefoto@zdf.de or by phone at 06131 – 70-16100.
More information
Here you will find the other series projects of the new New8 selection