Three Muslims move to a farm in Telemark, a rural region of Norway, to prepare an attack. Their coverage? The first halal goat cheese farm! They are soon joined by Marwan, a widower of Iranian origin, who has kidnapped his own daughter entrusted to the in-laws and is looking for a hideout...
To discover
- Survey - What are your 10 favorite series?
The series Countrymen, developed by Izer Aliu and Anne Björnstazd (Lilyhammer) for Arte and the Norwegian public channel NRK, has, on a serious subject, bet on comedy by staging a band of nickel-plated radical feet waving under the quiet gaze of the child. "With a zany treatment close to the false documentary, this series ventures on a rather daring ground of terrorism to better twist the blow to our prejudices," analyzed Albin Lewi, artistic director of the Canneséries festival where Countrymen received in 2021 the prize for the best collective interpretation and the prize of high school students.
The jihadists' troubles with the biquettes
The scenario is indeed original, as is the approach. The jihadists' quarrels with the biquettes – an ironic echo of the neo-rural trend of our societies – the clash of cultures with the natives are an obvious source of gags. Especially since the local community will end up integrating with great enthusiasm these elements a priori disruptive.
« We may fear that identity issues will become increasingly strong and tense, but we can also propose something that brings people together. »
Izer Aliu
«
The subject of the series is the other. With the implicit question of belonging. The characters who converge on the farm go there for different reasons. But they all have in common to come from elsewhere and wonder where they could feel at home. It is this fragility that gives us hope. The only one who can feel at home everywhere is the little girl," says Anne Björnstadt. While the co-creator of the series Izer Aliu adds: "This is the reality of today, the world as it is, with its mixing of populations and its complexity. We can fear that identity issues will become stronger and more tense, but we can also propose something that brings people together."
But, despite its humor and benevolent remarks, its wide shots tribute to the landscapes in western mode punctuating the episodes, Countrymen remains a little too zany, in a potache and DIY vein, to lead to a total adhesion over time: 8 X 45 minutes.
