De Grace: Le Havre, Panayotis Pascot, Dockers… We were on the set of a series of Arte events!

At the end of September 2022, AlloCiné was invited to shoot the next Arte series called De Grâce. So travel to the city of Le Havre, where this fiction takes place, directed by Vincent Mael Cardona (Les Magnétiques, César for Best First Work in 2022) and created by Maxime Crupo and Baptiste Fillon.

A dysfunctional family in Le Havre…

In the casting, the audience will discover this Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 8:55 p.m.: Olivier Gourmand, Pierre Lottin, Margot Bancilhon, Panayiotis Pascott, Astrid Wetnall, Philippe Rebot, Gring, Eliane Umuhire, Nailia Harzune Kouzune and Alizee. .

This family tragedy tells the story of Pierre Leprieu, a man born in Le Havre, “oil and salt in his blood”. Participating in every struggle, his political and trade union commitment made him a respected figure among the city’s port dockers.

But on the evening of his 60th birthday, while his loved ones gather for a birthday party, everything falls apart. His youngest son, Simon, was arrested behind the wheel of a car that his brother, Genie, a dealer, had lent him for the evening. A kilogram of cocaine was found in the chassis…

“The story of the series is not exogenous to its territory“

In this mural, Le Havre is a full member of this dysfunctional clan. Not far from the filming of the scene on Jean Leprie’s boat at the marina, Maxime Krupeau explains:

“Our characters’ journeys respond to collective history. There is history in Le Havre. The tragedy is somewhere in this, but also the result of political choices, economic choices… The way of developing the port and placing it at the level of international competition raises questions. This story is not exogenous to its territory.”

“It was important for us to write a story where we could really feel the city arena as an integral element of the narrative and the problems faced by the characters.developed by Maxim Krupo. If we can do that, I think de Grace will occupy an interesting place in the landscape of French fiction, because I don’t get the impression that the area has a place in the story anywhere else.“

In life, as in the Arte series, the world of the dock workers is everywhere in Le Havre. One of the producers explains:The city has its port ‘cursed’, but essentially it brings it wealth… but also hinders its development. (…) All the wealth of the world passes through this port, and we may be tempted to bite it.“

Port, Clan and Family Tragedy

Because yes, if the port of Le Havre is a huge and fabulous place for the exchange of goods on an international scale, this place is also a place for illegal trafficking. Sometimes criminals manage to convince certain dockers to help them in exchange for a very large amount of money. Here, one of our disillusioned heroes actually gives himself into temptation… and getting out of this trap seems to be extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible.

In De Grace, there is no judgment or bias against the dock workers. The representatives of the latter were contacted about this project, but the request of the series teams did not lead to an actual exchange. The fiction did not feature any real dock workers.

At least one thing is certain: Le Havre does not leave anyone indifferent with its port, its atmosphere or even its often criticized architecture. The Church of St. Joseph in Le Havre (seen in the series and visited by AlloCiné) is a testament to this and makes it possible to illustrate the themes of forgiveness or even redemption magnificently in several scenes. A unique city with a rich history that is ultimately worth staying there.

of grace Starts on Thursday 8th February from 20:55 at Arte.