It seems The Legends of Paris: A Tale of the 19th Century Artistic Scene has taken buyers by storm, even before its official launch at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous market in Le Havre, where it premiered on Tuesday.
Produced by Silex Films and Arte, the four-part series offers an intimate portrait of some of France’s most beloved artistic and literary figures. The film takes viewers to the vibrant heart of 19th-century Paris and follows the colorful lives of legendary artists such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, George Sand, Louis-Hector Berlioz, Honoré de Balzac and Charles Baudelaire.
The international interest in the period and personalities is clear: Arte Distribution has already signed presale deals for “The Legends of Paris” with TV Unam in Mexico; The Arts Channel in New Zealand; Swiss broadcaster SRF; Hrvatska radiotelevizija in Croatia; Radio and Television of Montenegro; the Georgian LEPL public broadcaster; and Hellenic Parliament Television in Greece. Arte will broadcast the series in France and Germany.
“The Legends of Paris” is directed and co-written by Amélie Harrault, who also helmed Silex en Arte’s hit 2015 animated series “Adventurers of Modern Art,” which explored the Parisian scene at the turn of the 20th century .
After the international success of that series, Arte wanted to continue the collaboration on a follow-up project. For Amélie, “this period was her dream,” says producer Judith Nora of Silex Films, who produced together with Priscilla Bertin. Harrault wishes that “she would have had a series like this as a teenager to understand poetry, literature and music. So she made the series she dreamed of.”
Thanks to Arte Distribution
This particular period was challenging, Nora adds. “Politically speaking, it is very complicated: there are three revolutions. That’s why we really tried to make it easy for everyone.”
The series is described as a family show that also makes the themes of art and politics accessible to viewers aged 12 and over. Nora notes that French students start learning about romance at age 14, so the series could provide a useful boost. “Even when you’re 10, you don’t understand everything, but you have a taste for it. That was our goal.”
Development of the project started in 2017 and proved to be a major challenge: “It’s been six years of writing; it’s 44 years of art history, 30 characters. You have 2,000 Parisian institutions. It [entailed] enormous research, massive digging during this period. … 90 people worked on the animation for two years.”
“Amélie used different animation techniques. Everything is digital; we used computers and she created tools to mimic her own painting style. That is something very new.”
The team worked with Escape Motions’ Rebelle painting software to create a tool that allowed the animators to work faster. They also used TVPaint Animation software for the project.
Thanks to Arte Distribution
Story-wise, Harrault chose specific characters from the period and “focused on the friendship and artistic influence between them,” Nora adds.
“We can say that 44 years of art history, all those iconic people, in animation, using both fiction and documentary – is something that has never been done before,” she emphasizes. “With ‘Adventurers of Modern Art’ it was already a big step. We have given many masterclasses on the boundaries between fiction and documentary. With this new project we are really taking everything to the next level.”
“It really is a turning point in storytelling,” emphasizes Joséphine Létang, head of international distribution and marketing at Arte Distribution. “We believe in animation – it really adds power to storytelling, it broadens the audience and especially can help introduce history and historical figures to younger viewers.”