We invite you today to screen the final four titles from the CEE Screenings 2021 selection. Medical thriller Side Effects was a big hit for RTL Klub in Hungary and is coming back with a new season. The Swap is among CT1’s big drama hits in the Czech Republic, while The Vampires of Midland broke records on Russian streamer START. The Ugryum River TV series adaptation thrilled the viewers of Channel One Russia this spring.


Side Effects (https://pitchplay.tv/ceescreenings/54)
Genre: Medical Thriller, 10x60'

A successful doctor botches a medical procedure. A cruel businessman accuses him of making his wife infertile. His career and life are now in danger, so he offers the couple an illegal surrogate mother-program to provide them with a child. He has to face the consequences of his actions alone.


The Swap (https://pitchplay.tv/ceescreenings/53)
Genre: Family drama, 13x55'

A thirteen episode relationship drama series about two contemporary families who find out that their now seven year old child was switched at birth with another. Is there any solution whatsoever to this situation? Is blood greater than love? A young couple, Martin and Tereza, and their son Jakub live a happy life. They’ve managed to accept the boy’s ASD condition. However, at school registration Martin realizes that something is not right. He and Tereza have a different blood type than Jakub. There seems to be only one explanation: Jakub is not his son. Tereza must have cheated on him and has been lying to him all these years. But the solution to this mystery is actually far worse. Their real son lives in a different town, in the large family of a train driver Karel and his wife Olga. His name is Tomáš and he is very much loved by all his family. They are also not aware of the swap. After a routine checkup in a hospital, it turns out that Tomas cannot be their biological son..


The Vampires of Midland (https://pitchplay.tv/ceescreenings/51)
Genre: Detective, Drama, Fantasy, 8x52'

Grandpa Slava is the oldest of the Midland vampire family. They live quietly. They live by the law. They live the unremarkable life of an ordinary Russian family and they never kill humans – ever. Although, of course, everyone knows they drink blood. And when some lifeless corpses are found in a birch grove near Smolensk... their peaceful life falls under threat. The Vampires of Midlands is a new twist on the police procedural drama, bringing together the supernatural and the earthly detective skills to solve a murder and protect a way of life. The series takes a wry look at family life in a small town with a difference, and the cultural and generational clashes within families, individuals and communities, that exist whether you’re a "Vampire of Midland" or just a regular person.


The Ugryum River (https://pitchplay.tv/ceescreenings/52)
Genre: Drama, 16x45'

A new comprehensive film version of Vyacheslav Shishkov's novel set in late 19th – early 20th centuries in Siberia. The Ugryum River film series is a chance to take a new look at the classic novel and the still relevant issues, such as profit-seeking, megalomania and uncontrollable lust. The main focus is on the protagonist's tragedy and the history of the Russian development of Siberia. The grand-scale production and a stunning team of creators and actors potentially make the series the main TV project of the year. The Ugryum River series is centered around the Gromov family. Pyotr Gromov and his son Prokhor fall in love with the same femme fatale, Anfisa Kozyreva. The series is set in Siberia, in the late 19th and early 20th century. In order to fight off his rival, Pyotr sends his son on a dangerous journey down the previously impassable Ugryum River. Prokhor obeys his father's order but returns to his native village a new man. Now he wants to conquer the whole Siberia. His thirst for gold and delusions of grandeur gradually destroy Prokhor's personality and life.