Balkan Shadows

Shadows over the Balkans (Serbian: Сенке над Балканом, romanized: Senke nad Balkanom), also known as Balkan Shadows and Black Sun, is a Serbian period crime television series created by Dragan Bjelogrlić. The series is set in the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs during the Interwar period and follows the story of two Belgrade police department inspectors. The first season takes place during the period just before the 6 January Dictatorship and follows attempts by the pair to solve a string of sacrificial murders shaking Belgrade. The first season ran from 22 October to 24 December 2017 on the RTS1 channel, as well as on many other television channels in the former Yugoslavia. A second season was released on 8 November 2019, and a third is being written as of April 2024.

In addition to Bjelogrlić, contributors to the screenplay include Danica Pajović, Dejan Stojiljković and Vladimir Kecmanović. The screenplay is based on a story by Stevan Koprivica. Dragan Bjelogrlić, Andrija Kuzmanović, Marija Bergam, Goran Bogdan, Aleksandr Galibin, Nenad Jezdić star, with Gordan Kičić, Nebojša Dugalić, Branimir Brstina, Srđan Todorović, Dragan Petrović, Nikola Đuričko, Bogdan Diklić, Voja Brajović, Sebastian Cavazza and Toni Mihajlovski also appearing. The series is an international co-production involving Cobra Film, Radio Television of Serbia, Skopje Film Studio, Iskra, Radio Televizija Republike Srpske, Macedonian Radio Television, and the North Macedonia Film Agency.

The first season was received very well by audience and critics alike, some controversy notwithstanding. The production, acting, editing and costume design have all received praise, as have the themes the series deals with.