“Rise of the Raven,” the anticipated European event series from Beta Film, behind “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” and producer Robert Lantos (“Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Eastern Promises”), will world premiere at Cannes content trade fair Mipcom on Oct. 22.
Beta Film has shared in exclusivity with Variety a first teaser to the series, which is a bracing introduction to the scale and ambition of “Rise of the Raven’s” production values, as well as the brutality of its battles scenes as it tells in an 10-part epic the extraordinary real-life feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who turned back the tide of the Ottoman Empire’s seemingly unstoppable advance into Europe.
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This looks set to climax in the series as in history in 1456 when Hunyadi won a bloody Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were sometimes armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.
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Celebrating Hunyadi’s victory, Pope Callixtus III ordered churches all over the world to ring their bells each day at noon. They still do so, down to this day.
The 10-episode series is set to air in 2025. Beta Film handles international distribution.
Lantos, Kadar, Vivien Rujder, who plays Hunyadi’s wife, the redoubtable Erzsébet, and Franciska Törőcsik, his first love Mara, given as a gift to Ottoman Sultan Murad by her father in an effort to appease the invaders, will attend the Mipcom world premiere.
Also present will be further key cast Mariann Hermányi (“Shadow and Bone”), Ernõ Fekete (“Son of Saul”), Elena Rusconi (“6 Underground”) and directors Robert Dornhelm (“Children of Theatre Street,” “Vienna Blood,” “Maria Theresa,” “War and Peace”), Orsi Nagypál, (“The Deal,” The CW’s “The Outpost”), Attila Szász (“Tall Tales,” “Eternal Winter”), and showrunner Balázs Lengyel (HBO’s “Golden Life”).
“Rise of the Raven” is produced by Robert Lantos. Executive producers are Tibor Krsko, Cecilia Hazai, Kinga Hazai, Oliver Auspitz and Andreas Kamm of MR Film, as well as Koby Gal-Raday, with Ari Lantos as producer.
Companies producing are Twin Media, HG Media, MR Film, and Beta Film, co-produced by Hungary’s TV2 Network, and Austrian public broadcaster ORF, supported by the National Film Institute of Hungary.
The event series “traces a hero’s journey from village boy to fearless warrior, to the saviour of Europe, for whom the Noon Bell tolls. Since childhood I have been intrigued by the Noon Bell. Ban Mor’s best-selling novels provided me with the opportunity to tell this story,” Lantos commented.
Said Gal-Raday: “‘Rise of the Raven’ is a one-of-a-kind, epic story, very much relevant to today’s audiences worldwide. The excellent talent in front and behind the camera have accomplished a unique cinematic experience, unprecedented in the European television landscape.”
“‘Rise of the Raven’ is epic in its story and on screen,” said Lucy Smith, director of Mipcom Cannes and Mip London. “With ambitious storytelling and high production values from an exceptional creative team and a truly international cast we are thrilled to be hosting its first showing in Cannes.”
