At the Séries Mania festival, the strong comeback of the 1980s and 1990s

A wind of nostalgia is blowing over the 2023 edition of the Séries Mania festival, which starts this Friday March 17, 2023 and will animate the streets of Lille and the surrounding area until Friday 24. As in fashion, the 1980s and 1990s are making a comeback shattering in the world of series, both in scenarios and in aesthetics.

Frédéric Lavigne had been aware of this trend for a few years: “Already last year, the series which received the Grand Prix Série Mania, “Le monde demain”, told the story of the birth of French hip-hop in the 1980s”, notes the artistic director. But in 2023, the wave broke. Of the 396 series watched by the Série Mania team before selecting the 54 that will be presented, “nearly half took place in the 1980s or 1990s”, confirms Frédéric Lavigne.

Vintage fashion and nostalgia

A return to grace at the end of the last century which is explained first, according to him, by a form of followership of vintage fashion in clothing and decoration, among other things. “The 1980s and 1990s have the advantage of being at the moment at a crossroads between two generations. Their aesthetic appeals to young consumers of series, and their temporal anchoring awakens a certain nostalgia in a slightly older audience, who grew up in those years,” analyzes Frédéric Lavigne. This is what “La Ruta” offers. Broadcast as an international preview at the festival, the series dives back from 1993 to 1981 in the journey of five friends carried away by a major electro movement in the history of Spanish youth.

Beyond an aesthetic, the 1980s and 1990s also make it possible to address current issues while taking some distance. The series “Disobeir: Chantal Daigle’s choice”, for example, depicts the true story of a woman who, in 1989, had to defend her choice to have an abortion even before the Canadian Supreme Court. A story that “echoes current issues”, underlines Frédéric Lavigne.

Ecology, the other key trend

Another major theme this year is ecology. “We have a lot of series of anticipation, some in a world ravaged by global warming, notes Frédéric Lavigne. Others that feature green characters, like in “Call me dad”, without it being the main subject of the series. The challenge: to talk about the environment differently and in subtext, to encourage virtuous behavior without systematically falling into catastrophism.

A subject that Cyril Dion will address during a conference at the Théâtre du Nord in Lille, Thursday March 23. Echoing the series “Abysses”, “Apagon”, “A Thin Line” and “The Fortress”, programmed throughout the festival, the author-director, poet and environmental activist, will question the role of series in the ecological fight . An intervention to also be found online on the event platform.

Source