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It takes a very special kind of creative mind to bridge surrealist art and whodunit TV productions. But it’s also fitting that “This is Not a Murder Mystery,”, a surprising crime drama set in the flamboyant 1930s following a group of young Surrealist artists, including Dali and Magritte, was born in the surrealist minds of Belgians.

Based on an original idea by Matthias Lebeer & Christophe Dirickx, directed by “The Serpent” helmer Hans Herbots and written by Christophe Dirickx & Paul Baeten, the six-part 54-minutes episode series is produced by Panenka, which got very early and continuous support from Belgian public broadcaster VRT, before becoming an ambitious European TV series. 

As Cannesseries kicks off its 9th season already, Variety spoke with Panenka producer Kristoffel Mertens and Elly Vervloet, international drama expert at VRT and Chair of New8 about how one turns a surrealist idea into a compelling drama-meets-art uniquely European series. 

“It started as the typical cliché idea that goes around in production companies,” recalls Mertens. “Everyone is very enthusiastic about it, but at the same time we would never be able to make it. Yet for this one, it remained with us and we kept going back to it, so in the end, we thought we could try to at least get it into development. And it turns out that “This is Not a Murder Mystery’ became one of the biggest shows ever made in Flanders.”

For the seasoned editor and VRT Drama expert, the idea was equally baffling. But Elly Vervloet and her team believed very early in this surrealist pitch as well, and boarded the project in the development phase. “It’s definitely the biggest series we have ever done”, emphasized Vervloet. “We usually commission Flemish series for our local audience, creating a mix of domestic series and high-end TV shows as well. But at that level, it becomes a matter of dreaming big, being bold, and daring to make this choice as a public broadcaster to bring this English-spoken series to our audience and beyond.” 

After securing development funding from Flanders Audiovisual Fund, things unfolded quite quickly for the Panenka-VRT duo. Shot between Belgium and Ireland, “This is Not a Murder Mystery” was eventually crafted by Panenka, in co-production with VRT, RTL Belgium, Proximus, the New8 broadcaster alliance (DR, NRK, NPO, RUV, SVT, YLE, ZDF, VRT) and Irish production Deadpan Pictures, in association with French powerhouse Studiocanal. This scheme unlocked many European funding opportunities, and brought no less than 10 broadcasters on board. 

“We were very lucky to have VRT on board as a commissioning broadcaster”, added Mertens. “Many meetings were conducted jointly, and Elly’s enthusiasm resonated with many international partners. The project made its first international appearance at the EFM co-production market, and we heard afterwards that it had gotten the biggest amount of meeting requests there. So we knew there was potential.” 

Berlin is also where the team met Studiocanal, a major partner still handling international sales for the series today, and received many marks of interest from European broadcasters. As VRT was in the process of co-founding the New8 alliance, Vervloet submitted the project to her fellow broadcasters, who reacted enthusiastically to this proposal. “I thought it was a perfect match. The series is directly tied to our European cultural heritage, it’s entertaining, and it has the power to address younger and older audiences alike.”

Beyond the six episodes, VRT and Panenka produced a companion series of six shorts episodes connecting fiction with reality. “This is Not a Fiction” dives deeper into archives, along with conversations with the cast, to present the real artists along with the makings of the TV show. “With this great content, and so many partners backing the project, it created a flywheel effect that helped us secure Creative Europe, Eurimages and our other financing partners”, added Vervloet.

Rather than seeing Flanders’ small territory as a drawback, Mertens underlined that even within Belgium, “This is Not a Murder Mystery” had three broadcasters on board. “It’s a great base, and it gives you the power to go outside of Belgium. We gained so much international experience on this project, and it was a great opportunity to work together so closely with VRT. We would definitely be open for other collaborations of this kind.”

Aired already on primetime VRT and at the same time on VRT MAX, the broadcaster’s online platform, the series was well-received by the audience and gathered both news attention and a great word-of-mouth, with good completion rates and high talk value. “It all came together very nicely”, added Vervloet, citing also the partnership crafted by VRT with the Antwerp Fine Arts Museum, and their René Magritte’s exhibition. “Bringing art to a broad audience through drama was a very big win for us. To me, it definitely shows the relevancy of such a series, and the intelligence of the creative teams behind this project.”

The French premiere at Canneseries is scheduled for April 26, followed by a conversation with the creative team and cast. “This Is Not a Murder Mystery” premieres Wednesday, April 29 on U&Drama, with all episodes available as a box set on U from launch.with France- Other New8 territories sare cheduled for the following months. 

Per Benjamin Gaessler, international publicity manager – TV Series at Studiocanal, the series has already been sold in almost 20 territories (including the New8 territories). “There are also a raft of new sales currently in the final stages, which Studiocanal hopes to confirm very soon,” added Gaessler, who shares the teams’ enthusiasm in this one-of-a-kind series.

“This is Not a Murder Mystery” is a Panenka production, in co-production with VRT, RTL Belgium, Proximus, the New8 broadcaster alliance (VRT, DR, NRK, NPO, RUV, SVT, YLE, ZDF) and Deadpan Pictures, with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA, the Pilot Programme for Series Co-Productions, the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), Screen Flanders, Screen Ireland, Screen Brussels and the Belgian Tax Shelter.

At Canneseries, fiction and non-fiction projects hail from all corners of the globe. And, as Flanders features a strong TV drama industry, so it is the case with non-fiction and documentary series. 

For more than three decades, Luc Gommers has been at the heart of Flanders’ major public broadcaster, VRT. After starting his journey first in the archives, then as a sport and news producer, he found his home at Canvas, VRT’s second main channel focusing on culture, in-depth news, arthouse films, occasionally sports, and non-fiction. 

As head of documentary and commissioning editor at VRT Canvas, Gommers buys, commissions, produces and co-produces standalone documentaries and documentary series alike. And in this process, he is a key figure in bringing singular Flemish proposals to the channel and beyond. 

Ahead of Cannesseries, where “The Deal with Iran” and “A Woman was Killed,” two VRT-backed documentary series will be presented to international audiences, Variety spoke with Gommers on the state of documentary in Flanders, and what it means to be a part of that ecosystem. 

Before we started, you mentioned that the primetime window on VRT Canvas is dedicated to non-fiction works, from Monday to Thursday.

Exactly, and that means that at VRT Canvas, we buy the best documentaries that are available on the market, but we also produce documentaries in-house at VRT Studios, and we commission both standalone projects and documentary series from external producers. Last but not least, as it’s also a big part of our work: we collaborate with auteurs and arthouse documentary filmmakers, and each year we have a significant amount of films coming from independent Flemish companies and producers, which are also backed by the Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF). They bring a whole range of projects and singular visions to the mix, and we’ve always maintained a strong connection with this type of documentary beyond TV production. 

This has been the way VRT Canvas has worked for a long time, as we were always keen on pushing the envelope on non-fiction and documentary projects. What has evolved is our focus and the kind of projects we showcase, depending on the times and what is happening in the world around us.

What is the state of documentary production in Flanders and beyond?

From our point of view, what we see is that the means used to make and produce documentaries are evolving as well with the times. Today, you can work very quickly and very efficiently with small means, a lighter setting, and that has also an impact on the topics you can tackle. 

For example, we recently commissioned the docu series “Basisschool Balder” (“Elementary School Balder” by directors Evy De Ceur, Ciska Snauwaert and Sarah D’Haeyer, produced by de chinezen) a particularly realistic and often poignant portrayal of running a Brussels school, and all the difficulties it implies. The trio spent months within the school, and thanks to modern-day technology, they were able to become almost invisible and craft these four episodes from such a unique point of view. 

On the other hand, we also continue to produce traditional documentary series, such as “En nu is ze dood” (“A Woman was Killed”, written by Nahid Shaikh, Phara de Aguirre, Sofie Hanegreefs and produced by De Mensen). But for these projects, we look for something that is beyond a simple take on the subject, or a classic true crime series. “A Woman was Killed” brings femicide center stage, in a very unique and striking way, and that’s what appealed to us.

Being part of Belgium, we also co-produce with the French-speaking public broadcaster RTBF [which shares the same building in Brussels] to bring to Belgian audiences topics of national interest through documentary form.

What are you looking for in 2026, when you select your projects? 

The key word is relevance. People think they may know a subject, but we are very interested in projects that shine another light on something that is “known” by the public, or approach a rather urgent theme but with a slightly different angle. What’s also important to us is impact. The projects we push forward must have appeal, and be able to capture our broad audience and make them care about a specific subject, theme or problem that’s rooted into our society. 

When we discuss with both internal and external partners or coproducers, we always look for the most effective ways to approach a topic. But the stories that work best on Canvas are the ones who make a problem understandable to our audience, without telling them how they should react, or think about this specific issue. We offer a theme, different ways to look at it, and push the envelope on a topic we think is relevant today. 

This year, VRT has two documentary series in the Canneseries line-up, which are “Deal with Iran” and “A Woman was Killed” How did you board those two projects? 

“A Woman was Killed” was pitched by our own journalist Phara de Aguirre, who lost her niece to a femicide. Her connection with the theme, along with the one Nahid Shaikh had in yet another way, made them really able to approach the subject with a unique perspective, along with having the trust of victims’ families. 

“The Deal with Iran”, on the other hand, comes from Diplodokus, a small indie production house, and what appealed to us was the way it depicted the Olivier Vandecasteele affair without having him appear at all in the series. Instead, it shifted the focus on how Belgium dealt with Iran, and the controversy around this deal. Diplodokus and their team managed to tell this story in a very gripping way, beyond simple news and diving very deep into the topic.

 Your two Canneseries selected projects have aired on VRT Canvas, but they’re also available on your streaming platform VRT MAX. How does your audience consume your content today? 

Linear TV still plays a big role for documentaries on our network, but we see that the younger the audience, the more likely they are to watch out content online. Yet to make the shows known to both the press and the public, linear TV is still a key aspect of our promotion. 

After so many years in this industry, how do you feel about documentary as a medium?

With these projects, and the many more that came before, such as “Godvergeten” [a 2023 Belgian four-part documentary series that explored decades of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and clergy in Flanders, told through the testimonies of survivors and their families], I feel like documentary is more relevant than ever. As a public broadcaster, and in these times riddled by fake news and AI-generated content, it’s part of our mission to push forward documentaries that show our audience what the world truly is, and paint the truest picture of our times. It’s something that documentaries can do, that goes beyond news, and that creates trust with our viewers as well. 

Scandinavian major Nordisk Film Production and leading Nordic sales, financing and production outfit Reinvent Yellow have just inked a distribution deal on three high-end crime series.

The series part of the pact includes “Snake Killer” (“Slangedræber”), Prime Video’s first Danish Original which is having its international premiere in competition at Canneseries this week, TV2 Norway’s “Sogn Murders” (“Mord i Sogn”), based on the best-selling books by Jørgen Jæger, and another show at an early stage. 

“It cannot be named yet, but it’s a highly anticipated Nordic crime IP,” said Nordisk Film Production’s Marike Muselaers, VP international financing & coproductions.Reinvent Yellow will oversee global distribution outside the Nordics for “Snake Killer” and outside the Nordics and German-speaking territories for “Sogn Murders.”

Nordisk Film Production CEO Katrine. Vogelsang and Muselaers said: “Having a partner invest in three series at once is incredibly valuable, especially in today’s market, and Reinvent Yellow’s confidence reflects the quality of our newly built TV series slate. We’re in this to create long-running entertainment with all three-crime series and with Reinvent Yellow on board we’re convinced the international market will feel the same way.”

Rikke Ennis, deputy CEO at Reinvent Yellow said: “Reinvent Yellow has a very ambitious growth strategy and we are planning to invest in numerous Nordic and English-speaking series and feature films over the next years. This acquisition underlines that strategy. We believe in strong and fruitful partnerships where we can grow together and we are very proud to be representing these high-quality series produced by Nordisk Film.”

“Snake Killer” and “Sogn Murders” are a perfect fit for Reinvent Yellow, particularly from an international sales perspective,” Helene Aurø, CSO at Reinvent Yellow noted. “They align closely with the type of premium, character-driven crime content we actively look to bring to the global market, making them a strong match for our content strategy, more than from a pure production angle.”

She added: “It’s the strength of the storytelling, the distinct tone, and their international appeal that make them so well-suited to our catalogue. Both series embody the kind of bold, engaging content that travels well and resonates with audiences worldwide.”

Launched by Prime Video exclusively across the Nordics on Jan. 16, “Snake Killer” is a hard-hitting crime thriller written and directed by Anders Ølholm (“Shorta”), with Mette Høst Hansen and Mia Marie Borup producing. The four-part series inspired by real events, stars Pilou Asbæk (“Games of Thrones”) as corrupt cop Smiley, head of Copenhagen’s infamous Uropatruljen police unit. It’s like ‘Dirty Harry’ but dirtier,” Canneseries artistic director Albin Lewi told Variety.

In a much lighter tone, the Norwegian show “Sogn Murders,” produced by Sigurd Mikal Karoliussen, is set against the dramatic landscape of the Sognefjord in Western Norway. We follow Ole Vik detective (Kristofer Hivju,“Game of Thrones,” “Beck”) and his unlikely partner Cecilie Hopen (Eili Harboe, “Thelma,” “The Architect”) as they navigate professional and personal tensions to solve a murder case.

The series, created and directed by Kristoffer Metcalfe, launched successfully on home turf March 19 on TV2 Play, with more than one million viewers (from a population of 5.6 million) and “an insanely good completion rate of 98%,” said Muselaers who describes it as “blue sky crime suitable for family viewing  – with tweens and teens, that is.”

After Norway, the cosy crime has had a strong start on partner broadcaster MTV Finland. Next up are DR in Denmark, TV4 in Sweden and ARD in Germany.

Turning on Nordisk Film Production’s overall strategy, Muselaers said the outfit plans to release from 2027 onwards, six to seven series a year across Denmark, Norway and Sweden, “with a focus on relevant, long-running entertainment that leaves an ‘afterglow’, a smart mix of genres for various formats and platforms.”
Egmont Group’s prodco part of the venerable 120 year-old Nordisk Film also looks favourably at Denmark’s new 25% tax rebates on local spend, to renew its international co-production strategy via minority co-pro bets.

“Co-productions go both ways for us. We want to drive the local market and aim to be a stable international partner,” added Muselaers, citing Nordisk Films’ Short Cut 360 LED virtual stage and post-production facilities at the group’s heard-quarters in Valby, as unique adds-on to attract international partners.

Reality more often than not surpasses fiction: It is yet again the case with “The Deal with Iran”, a three-part Belgian docuseries by Lennart and Maarten Stuyck, shedding light on the little known Belgian-led investigation that thwarted a bomb plot against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, and the deadly game of hostage diplomacy that followed leading to the liberation of a Belgian humanitarian worker, after 15 months of arbitrary imprisonment. 

Produced by Belgian documentary production company Diplodokus and with VRT Canvas as main Belgian broadcaster, “The Deal with Iran” makes its international premiere at Canneseries on April 28. This “thrilling and remarkably realistic dive into the complexities of global geopolitics,” according to Canneseries artistic direction team, series  one of the many high-quality documentary series produced and commissioned by VRT, Flanders’ public broadcaster. 

“The story had been on our running list of possible ideas for some time,”say director Lennart Stuyck and writer Maarten Stuyck about their gripping plunge into the deadly game of hostage diplomacy. 

“We were intrigued by the notion of an Iranian ‘sleeper cell’ operating in Belgium. But on its own, we felt the story was too small to carry an entire series.” It was only years later, when their Belgian compatriot Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested (or, according to the authors, kidnapped) in Tehran, that the Stuycks realized this was a story they had to tell.

While Lennart has a background in fiction, Maarten studied journalism and history. Combining these different experiences with their mutual family background and shared goals, they have been making documentary series together for almost 10 years. “We love starting our filmmaking process from a small ‘fait divers’: a seemingly minor story that, if you dig deep enough, opens a door into something much bigger and reveals how the world works on a level people rarely think about. Like a matryoshka doll that keeps revealing new layers.”

For “The Deal with Iran,” the spark was Olivier Vandecasteele’s imprisonment, which made Belgian headlines for months. “It was still unfolding as we worked,” remember the duo. “That was a difficult thing to navigate in the beginning, but it was also a gift that we could follow part of the story in real time.” 

But documentaries are more than just news. And the duo were always aiming for something beyond the Vandecasteele’s case, even if they knew many people would be reluctant to watch a series about Iran. “So we approached it as a thriller, an espionage story to pull viewers in, and only then lead them toward the geopolitical layer they might otherwise be less curious about.” 

Lennart Stuyck, series’ director, expanded on how he conceived this retelling in terms of visual style: “For the first episode especially, I drew inspiration from 1970s espionage films, which is why we used so many zooms. We also tried to stay as close to “real” footage as possible: a lot of shaky handheld camerawork, and even cellphone shots when they suited the moment.” 

Text from archives and photographs also played a heavy part in crafting the visual look and feel of this “Deal with Iran.” A choice that felt both powerful and coherent for the duo who were able to view and photograph the original courtroom files and use original audio recordings, among other key archives. “It was incredible, and it gives a sense of realness to the series, which given the subject matter was essential to us. We didn’t want people to be able to dismiss what we made — so the more proof we could put on screen, the better.”

Their approach to sound and music followed the same logic, as the Stuyck brothers wanted the series to feel as seamless as possible. “So people wouldn’t be able to turn it off once they started watching. Our beautiful score was composed by Raf Keunen, with whom we’ve worked several times. I think he created something that is creepy and gripping, intense when it needs to be, but also emotional where the story calls for it.”

When asked if they themselves were ever concerned about their own exposure, Lennart admits that he always felt the Iranian regime wouldn’t be particularly interested in a couple of Belgian guys making a series about this story. “Ignorance is bliss”, he said, “and we’ve had some wonderful responses and reviews, from both a cinematic and a journalistic angle, so we couldn’t be happier. Of course, we’d love to see the series travel far and wide, and the selection at Canneseries is the cherry on top right now”. 

With Iran being on the world stage even more today, this story of hostage diplomacy and diplomatic terrorism remains as relevant as ever. And being able to tell it through documentary was key to the duo, who didn’t envision it in any other medium. “Documentary is a way to tell exciting stories that shed light on aspects of our reality that are sometimes hard to capture in fiction”, concludes Lennart Stuyck. “It’s a cliché, but: this story really is better than fiction. And in a dramatized series, it would be almost impossible to believe.” 

“The Deal with Iran” is a Diplodokus production, backed by VRT Canvas as main broadcaster. Espresso media handles international sales.