The project is the first Ukrainian series to ever air on TV in this country.
On February 7th, Italians saw the first episode of the noir detective series Hide and Seek. ZDF Enterprises, the international distributor of the project, made a deal with RAI, the Italian national broadcaster, on broadcasting rights in the series to show it on Rai 4 – one of the channels belonging to the group.
This channel is known for selecting the world's best TV series and movies, and Hide and Seek finds itself in great company, with the shows like Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, Faun's Labyrinth, The Wolf of Wall Street, and many other major hits. Back in the autumn, when Rai 4 announced the most interesting projects that will be presented to viewers in early 2021, the new season of Game of Thrones, a new series from Marvel, and Ukrainian Hide and Seek were on the list right next to each other. As one of the most anticipated series – the first Ukrainian noir detective will air with two episodes in a row every Sunday evening on prime time (21-22 o′clock).
We hope that Hide and Seek will get a similar response from Italians, as it already did from the numerous Ukrainian diaspora in Italy. And the high expectations from the channel and TV critics affirm this expectation. The Italian media note that the series already has a rich festival history, and also point out its originality. For example, Marida Caterini portal comments: “The elements that distinguish Hide and Seek from other European noir is primarily its leaden atmosphere created by cameraman Sergei Krutko, who prefers blue, gray, and metallic-green tones. And the post-industrial Soviet architecture adds a nice touch to that, besides being characteristic of Energodar in southeastern Ukraine, the series location and the place of filming.”
Let's remind that ZDF Enterprises has recently made a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment Germany and the premiere of Hide and Seek is soon to follow, this autumn on the German Sony Channel. Notably, the series will air with a German-language dubbing – a rare case for a project from Eastern Europe.
In addition to Italy and Germany, Hide and Seek was acquired by the Polish channel Canal+, Czech FTV Prima, Bonton Film (Czechia and Slovakia), ETV (Estonia), LRT (Lithuania), and Lumière (Benelux countries). It was also already shown in the United States and English-speaking Canada on the VOD service Walter Presents.
The project was presented at such global festivals and film markets as MIPDrama Buyers Summit in Cannes, The Great Series Summit in Cologne, Eastern European Content Market NATPE in Budapest, Série Series Festival in Fontainebleau, Kyiv Media Week, Serial Killer Festival in Brno, MIA Drama in Rome, SERIENCAMP in Munich, Göteborg Film Festival in Gothenburg, and Black Nights Festival in Tallinn.
Hide and Seek premiered in Ukraine in 2019 on the ICTV channel, and now the project is available for Ukrainians on FILM.UA Group's official YouTube channel.
