with Matthew Hastings (»The Handmaid's Tale«, USA) and Tyron Ricketts (»Sam – A Saxon«, Austria)

A panel discussion followed by the screening of the pilot episode of
»The Handmaid's Tale«
Monday, 8 April 2024 | 7 pm
 

In recent years, series have become central pillars of social narratives – precisely because they have often found new ways of highlighting existing social issues in their fictionally differentiated narrative worlds.

Because of the large amount of time audiences spend with characters and stories that are told in serial formats, series writers have a great influence – and responsibility – in this regard.

The showrunners amongst these writers are able to extend this influence to the production side of their work. As lead creatives overseeing the entire creation and production process of a drama series, they can have a lasting impact on cast, crew, and audience.

With »The Handmaid's Tale« and »Sam – A Saxon«, two outstanding series are at the center of this first joint session of our two event series »ifs encounters« and »European Showrunner Think Tank«. Both shows have shown an almost prophetic visionary power in their countries of origin and seem to be disturbingly ahead of their time. Against this backdrop, Matthew Hastings (USA) and Tyron Ricketts (Austria) discuss the power of serialised fictional storytelling and production, and the social responsibility that comes with it.

Guests:
Matthew Hastings | writer, director, and executive producer (»The Handmaid's Tale«, »Smilla’s Sense of Snow«, »Fallen«, USA/UK)
Tyron Ricketts | actor, writer, and executive producer (»Sam – A Saxon«, »Dogs of Berlin«, Austria)
Moderator: Fitore Muzaqi | Director & Writer, Germany

On Screen:

»The Handmaid's Tale«
(USA 2017, Drama Series, adapted by Bruce Miller, Executive Producer: Warren Littlefield, Season 1, Episode 1)

»The Handmaid’s Tale« is set in a chilly near-future in what was once Boston, now patrolled by the armed guards of the fundamentalist dictatorship of Gilead. Due to widespread infertility, the few women capable of giving birth have been enslaved as »handmaids«, conscripted to couples of stature and forced into ritualized intercourse and child-bearing. Offred (Elisabeth Moss) is a handmaid to the Commander (Joseph Fiennes). […] She remembers the way the world used to be, including a husband and daughter and a spirited college chum, Moira (Samira Wiley). Now, because of the torturous training Offred is made to suffer under the thumb of Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd). […] Conversation instigated by handmaid shopping companion Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) leads Offred to contemplate a future beyond indentured baby-making, but such thoughts can bring hope – and hope can be dangerous. (D. Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter)

Event in English Language