De Grace: No, the scenes in the port of Le Havre were not filmed in Le Havre in the series Arte!

On Thursday, February 8, 2024, Arte starts broadcasting at 20:55 its new French series called De Grâce. This interesting family tragedy tells the story of Pierre Leprie, a man born in Le Havre, “with 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.

A family of dysfunctional dock workers…

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…

In the credits of this fiction we find Olivier Gourmet (Pierre Leprier), Pierre Lottin (Jean Leprier), Margot Bansillon (Emma Leprier), Panayiotis Pascott (Simon Leprier), Astrid Wethnall (Laurence Leprier), Philippe Lebbot (Christophe). Gring (Ishan Bayar), Eliane Umuhire (Joy Umuhire), Nailia Harzoune (Naval Kharbouchi), Alize Costes (Céline Leprie) and Xavier Beauvois (Sébastien Prévost).

series “of grace“Was it filmed in Le Havre?

The series, which is mostly shot in Le Havre, obviously includes many scenes set in the port. But were these sequences really assembled in this vast place of international exchange? The answer is no!

As creators Maxime Krupeau and Baptiste Fillon explained at a press conference organized to present their project, De Grace’s teams did not receive the necessary authorization to be able to shoot at the location. They actually started discussions with the Dockers, which unfortunately never materialized.

Thus, the supposed scenes in the port of Le Havre were actually filmed in the port of Antwerp in Belgium! But thanks to the magic of television, the illusion is perfect here… De Grâce launches on Thursday, February 8, from 8.55pm on Arte.