Factual

Independent factual distributor TVF International has secured a raft of deals across Central and Eastern Europe, sending a broad slate of premium documentaries and factual series to key broadcaster partners in the region. Czech public broadcaster Česká Televize, Polish broadcasters Telewizja Polsat and Canal+ Polska, Croatian public broadcaster HRT, and Slovak Television and Radio have all acquired packages of up to 200 hours from the distributor. The titles range from Channel 4’s Great British Train Journeys from Above (4 x 47’) to The World from Above.

In Poland, Telewizja Polsat and TVF International are co-producing Poland from Above, a two-part aerial documentary showcasing the country’s natural beauty and cultural heritage across its northern and southern regions.
Canal+ Polska has also licensed a selection of history and arts programmes from TVF, including France TV’s Maria Callas: The Unsung Greek Years (2 x 60’), which explores the early years of the internationally celebrated opera singer.

Meanwhile, public broadcaster Telewizja Polska has picked up several titles, including Untold Arctic Wars (6 x 52’) from Finnish public broadcaster YLE.
TVN has acquired a number of premium current affairs titles, among them China’s Abandoned Daughters from Singaporean public broadcaster CNA and Childhood Obesity: The Overlooked Pandemic from Movistar Plus+, which investigates the role of ultra-processed food giants in fuelling an international child obesity crisis.
In Czechia, Česká Televize has licensed the premium wildlife documentaries Japan’s Wild Side (2 x 52’) from Tokyovision and China’s Wild Secrets (5 x 45’) from Bilibili, both co-produced by TVF International.

FTV Prima has acquired a package including Secrets of the Brain with Jim Al-Khalili (2 x 60’, BBC), a premium science series exploring the mysteries of the human brain, and Channel 4’s Second World War documentary 24 Hours That Changed the World (2 x 47’) from Like a Shot Entertainment.
Also from Like a Shot Entertainment, Escape from Chernobyl: 48 Hours That Changed the World (1 x 47’), which chronicles the immediate aftermath of the nuclear disaster, has been licensed to Hearst Networks across several territories, including Poland, Hungary and Romania.
In Slovakia, public broadcaster STVR has acquired Arming the Arctic (1 x 51’) from Wildcat Films, which examines rising geopolitical tensions in the region, as well as France TV’s Ulysses: From Myth to Science (1 x 60’), a documentary that revisits Homer’s epic tale The Odyssey, among other titles.
In the Baltics, Estonian broadcaster Telia Eesti has acquired a package led by How to Poison a Planet (1 x 90’), in which Mark Ruffalo investigates the global contamination of drinking water by deadly “forever chemicals”. Estonian public broadcaster ERR has licensed the AI-focused titles AI & You (1 x 52’) from RTÉ and AI at Work: Who Runs the Office? (1 x 52’).
In the Balkans, JMU RTV Serbia has picked up arts titles including NDR/Arte’s Rauschenberg: Everything is Art (1 x 50’), about abstract painter Robert Rauschenberg, while Croatian public broadcaster HRT has licensed a collection of aerial and health titles, including the CBC-commissioned The Ozempic Effect (1 x 54’).

All deals were brokered by TVF International Senior Sales Manager Elina Ishkhanova, who said: “This wave of sales highlights the growing appetite for distinctive, high-quality factual content across Central and Eastern Europe. Genres such as history, wildlife and travel continue to perform particularly well, and it is wonderful to see such broad demand from our partners in the region.”