Federation Studios brings to Mipcom the new event series by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade Those Who Lived

As France is about to mark the 10th anniversary of the Paris terrorist attacks of November 13th, 2015, this 8 X 52’ drama focuses on the survivors of the Bataclan concert hall. From horror came unbreakable bounds of friendship. This is a tale of recovery and humanity.

Those Who Lived is coproduced by What’s Up Films (Matthieu Belghiti), Mizar Films (Nicolas Mauvernay) and NAC Films (Jérôme Corcos) for France Télévisions. Federation International embarked on the project as distributor at an early stage.

The series will premiere on France.tv as of October 27th. Linear broadcast on France 2 will follow shortly after. 

SVT, RTS, Nova just acquired the series, while HBO Max and RTBF were already onboard.

Synopsis: Marie, Arnaud, Caroline, Sébastien, Grégory, Stéphane, and David have a unique friendship that formed on the night they were all taken hostage at the Bataclan concert hall, in Paris, on November the 13th, 2015.  
During the evening of the attacks, they faced up to the terrorists for more than two hours in a confined corridor of the theater. Their survival forged a unique and unbreakable bond. 
Those Who Lived chronicles their encounter and the years that followed, as they struggled to rebuild their lives, and continue living! 

The project originated from an encounter between the authors and a group of friends with a unique story: on that terrible night of 13 November 2015, for two hours and 20 minutes, this group of 11 people were held hostage on the first floor of the Bataclan by the two surviving terrorists from the commando unit that had just attacked the concert hall. They did not know each other and had only one thing in common: a love of rock music. During this long night of carnage that struck Paris in six different locations, these 11 hostages were the only ones to have a direct, prolonged dialogue with the terrorists. Miraculously, the 11 hostages emerged from that corridor alive. 

A few days later, 7 of them decided to meet again. They were between 23 and 49 years old, all very different, but all struggling to find meaning in their lives again. Gathered in a bistro, they shared their memories for the first time. From this conversation, a bond was formed, still fragile but essential to their recovery. This encounter was the first of many others, and the starting point of a friendship that helped them regain their taste for life.

 The series stays very close to the testimonies of those survivors, and questions: what does it mean to be alive after such an extreme experience, for which no one can be prepared?
 
Guillaume Pommier, co-head of Distribution, Federation International: “We’re incredibly proud to work again with Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and bring to the world his astonishing new series, especially after Samber, which was a huge international success. We have a strong feeling that sensitive subjects such as the terrorist attacks transcend borders and speak deeply to audiences everywhere, when they are treated with such humanity and respect to the true protagonists. No one but Jean-Xavier could tell this story of unique friendship and recovery with such sensitivity and delicacy.”

Those Who Lived  is created and directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, written by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Antoine Lacomblez. The stellar cast reunites Benjamin Lavernhe de la Comédie-Française (Arnaud), Alix Poisson (Marie), Antoine Reinartz (Grégory), Félix Moati (Sébastien), Anne Steffens (Caroline), Thomas Goldberg (David) et Cédric Eeckhout (Stéphane).

Federation International handles worldwide rights to the series. 

 

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