Turkey’s OGM Pictures has acquired remake rights to produce a local-language adaptation of Shtisel, the hit Israeli television drama carried on Netflix in the U.S.
The Turkish show, Ömer, will track the same basic plot as the Israeli original, which follows Akiva Shtisel (Michael Aloni), a bachelor living in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood with his aging father, who meets an older widow, Elisheva (Ayelet Zurer), living with her ten-year-old son. But the Turkish version will move the setting to the country’s ultra-Orthodox Muslim community.
“Shtisel is a very unique format that can be adapted to almost every culture and religion,” said OGM Pictures founder Onur Guvenatam. “So we are very excited to present Ömer in harmony with our culture and traditions.”
OGM acquired the remake rights from Dori Media Group, which handles international licensing for the show. OGM plans to produce at least 20 episodes for the first season of the Turkish adaptation for local network Star TV.
“For such an excellent Turkish production company to choose a format like this just goes to show how audiences from all backgrounds, be they Muslim or Jewish, or anyone else for that matter, can relate to the same family values and often fraught dynamics, significance of tradition, ceremony of food, etc., portrayed in Shitsel,” said Dori Media Group President and CEO Nadav Palti.
The original Shtisel, created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky, was produced by Fremantle-owned Israeli production company Abot Hameiri for Israel’s Yes network. It was a hit out of the gate, with Season 1 becoming the second-most-viewed Israeli drama on Yes and the show winning 11 awards at the Israeli TV Awards in 2013, including Best Drama Series. Season 2 took six trophies, including best actor for Doval’e Glickman, who plays Akiva’s father Shulem, and best actress for Neta Riskin, who plays the long-suffering Orthodox wife and mother Giti Weiss. A third season aired in 2021.
