The drama series ETTY has been selected for a screening at this year’s Venice Film Festival, which takes place on the Lido di Venezia from 27 August to 6 September 2025. ETTY was co-produced by Topkapi Series and is largely set in The Netherlands.
Written and directed by Hagai Levi (IN TREATMENT, THE AFFAIR, SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE) and produced by Yael Fogiel for Les Films du Poisson, Jonas Dornbach for Komplizen Serien, Frans Van Gestel for Topkapi Series, the six-part series is a co-production with ARTE France and Quiddity. All six episodes of the series will be shown at the festival.
Loosely based on the diary of “Etty” Hillesum, the series traces the extraordinary inner journey of the Dutch Jewish writer between 1941 and 1943, chronicling her profound spiritual awakening.
ETTY is the story of a modern, free-spirited, and sharply intelligent woman, wrestling with inner doubts and darkness yet endowed with extraordinary spiritual depth. Over the course of the series, a turbulent love affair with psycho-chirologist Julius Spier becomes the catalyst for Etty’s profound transformation. As the threat closes in, her journey culminates in an extraordinary act of solidarity.
Told in an unconventional way, the series offers a dialogue between past and present, revealing how Etty’s strive for meaning continues to resonate today — and evoking the timely question: how do we find hope in a hopeless world?
Showrunner, Hagai Levi: “I’m grateful and honored to return to the Venice Film Festival with ETTY. Etty Hillesum’s diaries have had a deep impact on my life ever since I first came across them over a decade ago. In these days of war and hatred, I believe the compassion and faith she offers in her words – written over eighty years ago – are more crucial than ever. This is a series that’s very close to my heart, and I hope it will find its way into the hearts of many others. I’m thankful to ARTE and all the partners who helped bring the series to life.”
The producers added: “We are extremely proud to produce a series written and directed by Hagai Levi, one of the most accomplished and influential series creators in the world. For us as producers, ETTY offers a new and deeply relevant perspective on our time. Amid today’s political shift to the right and the rise of authoritarianism, Etty’s unwavering belief in the humanity of life becomes a message of resistance, sadly more relevant than ever.”
Frans van Gestel of Topkapi Series, the Dutch co-producer of ETTY, adds: “We are proud that, through an impactful series like ETTY, ‘our’ Netherlands, and Amsterdam in particular, will be seen by an international audience. The fact that the series is spoken in Dutch makes it even more authentic. The premiere at a major international festival is definitely the icing on the cake for the Dutch cast and crew.”
ETTY stars Julia Windischbauer as the eponymous heroine and Sebastian Koch as therapist Julius Spier, whose patient, lover friend and secretary she later became. Other cast include Leopold Witte, Gijs Naber, Claire Bender, Evgenia Dodina, Chris Peters and Bart Klever. The series was commissioned by ARTE (France/Germany), SWR (Germany), and NPO (Netherlands).
The 82nd Venice International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in the world. Organised by La Biennale di Venezia and directed by Alberto Barbera, the Festival aims to promote international cinema in all its forms, celebrating both established and emerging film makers.