This is a series of events for later this year. Last November, France 2 broadcast Sambre, a fiction adaptation of a news story about the hunt for a man nicknamed “The Man”.Sambri bully”, a man who has been assaulting and raping women with impunity for almost thirty years.
Adapted from the book Sambre, news radioscopy By Alice Gérard, this poignant mini-series was helmed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, a director who notably worked on Laetitia, a 2020 feature film that revisits the sad case of Laëtitia Perrais.
Following the critical and audience triumphs of his last two series, the director has just revealed his ambitious new project to our colleagues at Satellifacts Magazine.
A series about the November 13 attacks
If Jean-Xavier de Lestrade is used to adapting news stories, this time it is a completely different subject that he has decided through his production company What’s Up Films. He is actually working on a fiction based on the November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks.
For this occasion, he will write the screenplays alongside Antoine Lacomble, with whom he collaborated on Laëtitia, 3 X Manon and La Disparition. Tentatively titled Des Vivants, the mini-series will consist of 6 episodes of 52 minutes each and will be produced by Nicolas Mauvernet (Mizar Films) and Jerome Corcos (Nac Films).
Unlike M6, which will bring you The Spies of Terror in 2024, a mini-series that tells the story of the attacks through the prism of DGSI and DGSE, this fiction will focus on the victims of this tragedy.
“It is dedicated to the potages, the squeeze between the friends and the hostages, these eleven people who were taken for two and a half hours by the two terrorists of the Bataclan and with whom they spoke.– revealed Jean-Xavier de Lestrade.
“This group, whose core group consists of seven people, escaped without physical injuries, but all are recovering through this group of friends. Presented as both an individual and collective story, the series will follow the evolution of these men leading up to their 2022 trial..”
As always, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade draws on a wealth of documentation to write his screenplay. “Through fiction, I want to look at the facts and the lives of these people“, he added.
“Screenwriting allows us to draw deeper meaning from life stories that may seem chaotic, disordered, or absurd..”
Broadcasting on a public channel?
At the moment, there is nothing attached to this project, which is not due to appear on our screens for two years. But he did not hesitate to praise the qualities of public service to our colleagues.
“I consider social series like Sambre or Laëtitia to be a public service because they speak to as many people as possible. I’m glad to know that quality work remains available to everyone, including those who only receive DTT, without signing up for payment..”
“That said, I have nothing against platforms that know how to scramble codes, nor against paid channels. In documentaries we work well with Canal+ and our fiction also travels to other forms of distribution. Laëtitia was acquired by Netflix.” To be continued.
For late guests, the Sambre mini-series is available in its entirety and for free on the france.tv platform.
Source: Allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
