The first season of Showmax Orginal Spinners is up against the Emmy-winning final season of Succession at the 29th Shanghai TV Festival’s Magnolia Awards, set to take place on Friday.
Both drama series have been nominated for Best Foreign TV Series alongside All Creatures Great and Small S4, La Storia and Aspergirl.
Spinners was introduced to a French audience earlier this week with its release on CANAL+.
French publications gave the series glowing reviews. Le Figaro said Spinners “happily explores new fictional territories and allows you to discover an astonishing motorsport”.
Diverto used phrases like “absolutely captivating”, “breathtaking” and “both spectacular and full of suspense”. Allociné called it “a gripping thriller… somewhere between Fast and Furious and Gomorra with a little hint of Moonlight.”
The first African series ever selected for CanneSeries, Spinners follows Ethan (breakout star Cantona James), a 17-year-old driver working for a local gang.
Needing to support his younger brother but increasingly disgusted with gang life, Ethan discovers a possible way out via extreme motorsport spinning.
Filmed on location in Lavender Hill on the Cape Flats, Spinners has already won three awards at Dakar Series, including Best TV Series; received standing ovations in Cannes, Paris and at Silwerskerm in Cape Town
A co-production between Showmax and CANAL+, Spinners was co-created by producer Joachim Landau and showrunner Benjamin Hoffman of Empreinte Digitale.
The story was developed by and head-written by SAFTA and Silwerskerm winners Sean Steinberg and Matthew Jankes.
The 16LVPD-rated English/Kaaps series is co-produced by Locarno, Amiens and FESPACO winner Ramadan Suleman (Zulu Love Letter, Fools) from Natives at Large, Spinners’ local co-production company.
Words: Fame Frenzy
