NIABLA, NEW CANAL+ORIGINAL SERIES

The only African series selected during the latest edition of the La Rochelle Fiction Festival, NIABLA is the new CANAL+ORIGINAL series produced by Alex Ogou.

A true social thriller in eight 52-minute episodes, NIABLA follows Sia, a young woman who decides to reconnect with her past by returning to her hometown of Abidjan. However, as soon as she arrives, her half-sister suddenly disappears... Powerful, captivating and gripping, NIABLA is available from 16 October on CANAL+PREMIERE.

Diving into the heart of night-time Abidjan against a backdrop of drug trafficking and prostitution networks, the screenplay of NIABLA is the fruit of a trio of original authors: Aude Forget, a young Franco-Ivorian director, Anthony Martin, French actor and screenwriter, and Gauz', a major Ivorian writer who won an award for his works DEBOUT-PAYE and CAMARADE PAPA.

As for production, this is the work of Alex Ogou, already responsible for successful CANAL+ORIGINAL series such as INVISIBLES, CACAO and, recently, OBATANGA.

NIABLA features a line-up of endearing, mysterious or merciless characters, played by people from different backgrounds. At the top of the bill, we find two of the authors, Aude Forget and Gauz', surrounded by major actors such as Pol White (SECTION DE RECHERCHE, OSS 117 and recently in OASIS...), Christelle Gougoué (OBATANGA, LES COUPS DE LA VIE) and Bienvenue Koffi, Stéphane Sebime and Ephraim Oka... Finally, NIABLA is a unique co-production combining the expertise and know-how of the fiction series of PLAN A, directed by Alex Ogou, and the quality and inventiveness of French producers UPSIDE TV (Vivendi Group) and COUSINES & DEPENDANCES.

The series also enjoyed the support of POLAR+, a CANAL+ Group channel.

Nathalie Folloroux, Director of CANAL+ CHANNELS, explains: “NIABLA is a remarkable piece of writing, direction, acting and production... I congratulate and thank all the teams who helped create NIABLA which, I'm sure, will be a hit with our viewers across the continent and beyond!”

Alex Ogou, director and co-producer of the series, adds: “Producing and directing NIABLA was a real challenge on every level. From financial to artistic, we had to find the right tone to bring together all the ambitions of this series. Whether on the question of sisterhood, illness (sickle cell anaemia) and including, of course, the urban thriller…”

The producers from UPSIDE TV and COUSINES & DEPENDANCES conclude: “There’s no point creating if you don’t invent. Producing NIABLA has been a long, exciting adventure of discovery and innovation. These stories are often the best, the ones that always leave their mark on our lives.”