Hagai Levi’s “Etty” and Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo’s “Killing a Bear” claimed the top international and national series honors at Barcelona’s Serielizados festival. The winners of the event’s two competitive sections were announced during an awards ceremony Saturday night.

Both six-part productions were recognized for taking unconventional approaches to established genres. “Etty” reimagines the period drama through a contemporary lens, while “Killing a Bear” reshapes the crime mystery by placing an animal at the center of the case.

Two Bold Takes on Familiar Genres

A French-Dutch-German production based on the diaries of Dutch Jewish author Etty Hillesum, “Etty” follows its passionate 27-year-old subject on a spiritual and emotional journey through Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Levi, whose credits include “The Affair” and “Scenes From a Marriage,” conceived the historical drama as a feature film told across six episodes.

Arte France was a major backer of “Etty,” which had its world premiere out of competition in Venice and was also highlighted at Series Mania. The drama opened in French cinemas on May 6 before launching on Arte.tv on May 16. Les Films du Poisson shepherded the production, with Studio TF1 handling international sales.

“Killing a Bear,” or “Matar a un oso,” takes a different route into genre reinvention. The Spanish series makes a bear the victim of its central crime, tells the story from multiple characters’ points of view and draws its suspects from a close-knit 262-member Anti-Bears chat room in Spain’s high-Pyrenean Val d’Arán.

The series had its Catalan premiere at Serielizados shortly after its world premiere at Spain’s Valladolid Film Festival. A Movistar Plus Original produced by the Sánchez-Cabezudo brothers’ Studio TF1-owned Kubik Films, it is another collaboration between Arte France and Movistar Plus. The show will debut in Spain on Dec. 1.

National competition juror Roosa Toivonen said the jury felt invited into a fully realized and distinctly Catalan world, praising the series’ confidence and “muscularity.” Toivonen, a Finnish producer and Tallinn TV Beats co-head, judged the category alongside Canneseries’ Claire-Marine Pietriga and the Berlinale’s Rowan Woods.

Comedy, Drama and Performance Winners

Arte France added another international award with best screenplay for the French comedy “Camarades,” co-created and co-written by Benjamin Charbit and Dominique Baumart.

Bafta-nominated Diane Morgan won best performance for the BBC comedy “Ann Droid.” Morgan created the series and plays Linda, a second-hand robot.

Every series selected for the national competition received recognition. Alongside the best-series victory for “Killing a Bear,” “Segunda Temporada” won best screenplay. The drama comes from writer-director Miguel Ángel Blanca and co-writers Berta Prieto and Víctor Diago, the creative team associated with Filmin’s “Autodefensa.”

Its story brings together a washed-up ghostwriter and a fading trap star newly released from jail. Developed through the Serielizados Kick talent lab, the project became a seven-part drama with 30-minute episodes, produced by Barcelona-based Boogaloo Films and Canada. Paris-based Oble handles sales.

Carmen Machi was named best actress for playing tax inspector Sara Santano in Season 2 of the Movistar Plus-100 Balas series “Celeste,” which received its world premiere in Barcelona.

The HBO Max-3Cat co-commissioned dramedy “In Vitro” earned a Special Mention for its warm, comic treatment of fertility procedures. Jurors singled out its global reach and potential for international remakes.

Created by Marc Crehuet and Alejandra Guimerà, the series was written by Crehuet, Carmen Marfà, Natalia Boadas and Serielizados co-founder Víctor Sala. It launched simultaneously on HBO Max and 3Cat in Spain on Oct. 19 and, according to Sala, secured an 18.2% share on the Catalan public broadcaster.

The Spanish jury also praised commissioners and producers for their creative courage and noted that all four competing series feature central female characters of different ages.

ShowBiz Take

The top awards make a clear statement about the kind of television Serielizados is championing: creator-led projects willing to disrupt familiar storytelling forms. “Etty” applies a modern perspective to historical drama, while “Killing a Bear” expands a crime’s circle of suspects and shifts the identity of the victim in an unexpected direction.

The results also underline Arte France’s presence across the festival’s international and Spanish-facing selections. Beyond backing both top winners, the cultural channel was connected to the screenplay prize for “Camarades,” giving it a particularly strong showing across the awards.

Mind the Gap Honors New Projects

The festival’s €5,500 ($6,100) Mind the Gap Award went to “El Observatorio,” created by Laura Roqué, Luis Sorolla and Eloy Zamora. Set in a small Sierra Morena village, the story follows astrophysicists investigating mysterious flickering lights. One member of the group, Sara, begins to believe the light could be her deceased father attempting to communicate.

The early-development project, which is seeking a producer, was previously pitched at ECAM Forum 2026, where it received the Serielizados award. Jury member Alexios Kastrissianakis of Arte France said the panel chose to support new talent needing discovery.

Honorable mentions went to two female-led series about abuse: Finnish psychological drama “Dangerous Woman,” produced by Gutsy Pictures for MTV Finland and TV4 Sweden, and Spanish drama “Callback,” created by sisters Joana and Mireia Vilapuig. “Callback,” produced by Funicular Films with Left Tackle Films, also received the €2,000 ($2,200) Konga Music Agency award.

What Happens Next?

Serielizados’ 13th edition continues at venues across Barcelona through Oct. 28. Its program has included masterclasses with Levi, Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue, a full day devoted to the Miniput quality-TV showcase and the second Mind the Gap pitch competition.

Festival programmer and co-founder Betu Martínez Molero said the edition reached 18,000 attendees across more than 60 activities, including over 30 national and international premieres. After the in-person Barcelona program, Serielizados will move online through Filmin from Nov. 10-22.