Series to Watch: Venice 2025
Ahead of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, which begins on August 27, DQ picks out the new series that will have their world premieres in the iconic floating city.
Un Prophète (A Prophet)
From: France
Original broadcaster: Canal+
Director: Enrico Maria Artale
Producers: CPB Films, Media Musketeers, Bottega Films, Indigo Films, coproduced by UGC Images, Entourage Series, Savon Noir, Staging and MMBV
Distributor: StudioCanal
Starring: Sami Bouajila, Mamadou Sidibé, Ouassini Embarek, Salim Kechiouche, Matthieu Lucci, Naïla Harzoune, Faued Nabba, Hugo Dillon, Rachid Guellaz, Guilaine Londez and Moussa Maaskri
Premiere date: August 30
A new take on Jacques Audiard’s award-winning film, this eight-part series portrays the visceral, raw and high-stakes way of life in a brutal French prison where Malik (Sidibé, in his first role), a young African immigrant, must try to survive after being locked up for drug smuggling. Alone and vulnerable, he meets Massoud, a powerful and shady businessman who offers him protection in exchange for Malik’s obedience. But Malik soon realises he is just a pawn in Massoud’s game, and that the only way to survive will be to take power himself.
Portobello
From: Italy, France
Original broadcasters: HBO Max, Arte France
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Producers: Our Films and Kavac Film, with The Apartment Pictures
Starring: Fabrizio Gifuni, Lino Musella, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Barbora Bobulova, Alessandro Preziosi and Fausto Russo Alesi
Premiere date: September 1
Launch date: 2026
This six-episode series tells the story of Enzo Tortora, the famous host of real-life television show Portobello, which aired for seven seasons from 1977. After he was accused by justice collaborators of being part of a criminal organisation involved in drug trafficking, Tortora was imprisoned and tried for years before being definitively acquitted of all charges.
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Etty
From: France, Germany, the Netherlands
Original broadcasters: Arte (France), SWR (Germany)
Director: Hagai Levi
Producers: Les Films du Poisson, Komplizen Serien, Topkapi Series and Quiddity
Distributor: Studio TF1
Starring: Julia Windischbauer and Sebastian Koch
Premiere date: September 1
A seven-part series about Dutch actress Etty Hillesum, who kept diaries of her experience living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. In them, she described a turbulent love affair with the psycho-chirologist Julius Spier that became a trigger for a radical inner transformation – one accelerated by the growing threat she faced as a Jew and ultimately leading her to an enormous act of solidarity.
Il Mostro (The Monster of Florence)
From: Italy
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Director: Stefano Sollima
Producers: The Apartment, Alter Ego
Starring: Marco Bullitta, Valentino Mannias, Francesca Olia, Liliana Bottone, Giacomo Fadda, Antonio Tintis and Giordano Mannu
Premiere date: September 4
Launch date: October 22
Eight double murders. Seventeen years of terror. Always the same weapon: a .22 Beretta. In Italy, a faceless serial killer known as the Monster of Florence sows panic, sparking one of the longest and most complex investigations ever. The series (also pictured top) is based on true events, first-hand accounts and court documents.
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tagged in: A Prophet, Etty, Il Mostro, Portobello, The Monster of Florence, Un Prophète