The independent factual distributor is hitting the Croisette this year with a packed slate of over 200 hours of content.
A batch of new travel titles lead the TVF slate, including Tern TV’s Martin Compston’s Norwegian Fling (6 x 30 min.), which sees the Line of Duty star continuing his northern travels by trekking through Norway’s cities, mountains and (of course) fjords. The TVFI/Pronto Prod copro The World’s Most Remote Hotels (10 x 26 min.) takes viewers to unique vacation spots around the globe, covering such locales as Patagonia, Morocco and Lapland, while Alleys: Off the Beaten Track (14 x 50 min.) reveals hidden gems in the backstreets of cities all over the world.
TVFI continues to expand its true-crime catalog with two new offerings. Peddling Pictures’ The Negotiators International (4 x 48 min., pictured left) immerses viewers in highly dangerous hostage situations involving such actors as terrorist group Boko Haram, a Mexican drug cartel and a rogue American cop. Brothers in Arms (2 x 48 min.), meanwhile, recounts the criminal careers of the Wahab-Hassan brothers, Singapore’s most-wanted outlaws during the violence-ridden era of the 1960s and ’70s.
New science and environment titles include The Last Seed (1 x 59/79 min.), about Africa’s struggle for seed sovereignty and the issue’s ramifications for global agriculture and nutrition; Forgotten Palate: A Future in Ancient Grains (2 x 48 min.), a CNA commission that explores historical lessons for alternative farming methods; Planet of the Machines (2 x 52 min.) from The Plant Co. Ltd., which explores how the machines that once helped unlock human potential have now come to dominate and constrict human life; and Very Productions’ One Billion Joules (1 x 48 min.), which follows scientists and storm chasers hunting down lightning strikes during the most dangerous storm seasons of the year.
The current affairs lineup includes two titles from CNA’s long-running strand ‘Undercover Asia,’ Inside Indonesia’s Football Ultras and Lombok’s Poisoned Gold (both 1 x 48 min.), as well as Debt Bomb (2 x 48 min.), which investigates whether economic crises could cause further global financial instability. Also featured are titles from the ‘VeraCity’ investigative strand from Canada’s CityTV, including Prison Moms and You’ve Been Posted: Revenge Porn (both 1 x 44 min.). Meanwhile, the Omni commission Katiba Banat: Sisters in Arms (5 x 23/1 x 52 min.) tells the story of the all-female battalion that fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War of 1983 to 2005, which resulted in the birth of the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan.
The health and medical genre is repped by Virgin Media’s Born Too Soon (3 x 60 min.), which follows the families and medical teams caring for premature babies; and Globoplay’s Life is Precious (7 x 27 min.), covering inspiring stories of people with rare diseases who are living their best lives.
The TVFI slate is rounded out by two new obs-doc series from BBC Studios, both produced for Channel 5. Rescue 999 (6 x 60 min.) spotlights some of the UK’s most daring rescue missions, while Heart Hospital (4 x 60 min.) looks over the shoulders of surgeons as they perform heart transplants with cutting-edge cardiovascular technology and techniques.