Mediawan Rights has boarded “Kabul,” a highly anticipated thriller series produced by France’s 24 25 Films and Cinétévé.
Shervin Alenabi (“Tehran”) and “Euphoria’s” Eric Dane have joined the international cast of the show, which already comprises Jonathan Zaccaï (“Le bureau des legendes”), Thibault Evrard (“The Night of the 12th”), Vassilis Kukalawi (“Kandahar”),Jeanne Goursaud (“Pax Massilia”), Gianmarco Saurino (“L’estate piu Calda”) and Valentina Cervi (“Medici: Masters of Florence”). Dane will have a small but meaningful role in the show.
The series, set against the backdrop of U.S. troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and Taliban’s sweep to power, just started filming on April 1. Mediawan Rights will introduce the gripping series project to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes, and is handling worldwide distribution with the participation of Entourage.
“Kabul” explores the chaotic evacuation of various characters, from diplomats to soldiers to civilians, who desperately seek refuge and solidarity in a country in crisis, with the arrival of the Taliban in Kabul. The three-month shoot is primarily taking place in Hellenikon Airport, near Athens.
Kasia Adamik (“No Escape”) and Olga Chajdas (“Imago”) are directing “Kabul,” while Olivier Demangel (“Atlantics,” “November”), Thomas Finkelkraut (“Thomas Finkielkraut”) and Joey Lavy (“The Shift”) penned the scripts. The show has been ordered by France Télévisions and ZDF, along with RAI. Producers are Fabienne Servan-Schreiber and Charlotte Ortiz at Cinétévé, and Matthias Weber and Thibault Gast at 24 25 Films. The latter became part of Mediawan last year and have notably produced Yann Gozlan’s “Black Box”and “Visions” starring Diane Kruger, “Promises”by Thomas Kruithof and “The Test”by Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud.
This acquisition of “Kabul” underscores Mediawan Rights’ mandate to represent upscale series in international markets. The company’s current pipeline also includes Bille August’s miniseries “The Count of Monte Cristo” starring Jeremy Irons and Sam Claflin.
“‘Kabul’ is an ambitious series in both its narrative and cinematic approach,” said Valérie Vleeschhouwer, CEO of Mediawan Rights. “This acquisition reflects our ongoing commitment to offering top-notch, daring productions worldwide. With the backdrop of the 2021 Kabul evacuation setting the stage for this compelling series, we are confident it will captivate a large international audience.”
The character-driven series is inspired by the experiences of Servan Schreiber who, in August 2021, became involved in the rescue efforts of multiple families of Afghan artists whose lives were suddenly in absolute danger. She actively participated in efforts to evacuate these families, working directly with top officials in France and several other countries to find solutions.
“Obscurantism was rushing into Kabul prematurely… Those who wanted to act were reduced to an unbearable impotence,” Servan-Schreiber, Ortiz, Weber and Gast saiad in a joint statement.
“From this observation grew the desire to bear witness, through fiction, of this singular episode and how Kabul found itself, in those two weeks of August 2021, the focal point of the world and the scene of a predestined failure and decline,” the producers said.
They added that “creating this series appeared to us as a matter of urgency. But not just any series: an ensemble series, a show that would follow the journey of a dozen or so characters faced with a variety of choices and dilemmas.”
