Before the company began producing in Eastern Europe, there was no tradition in the region of high-end TV. Local drama was cheaply made soaps, cop and hospital shows. Root, taking a page from HBO's playbook in the U.S. (and in Latin America, where the network has been making local-language drama since 2004), recruited actors and directors from feature films and theater for the small screen. Agnieszka Holland, Oscar-nominated for 2011 Holocaust drama In Darkness, directed Burning Bush. Ildiko Enyedi, the Hungarian filmmaker who won the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear this year with On Body and Soul, helmed the Hungarian version of HBO's In Treatment. Bogdan Mirica, who wrote and directed Umbre, won the film critics Fipresci award in Cannes last year for his feature Dogs.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hbo-europe-best-tv-youve-never-seen-1048497