"Bardot"
"Bardot" (6x52’) is a Brigitte Bardot series that dives into the 50's in France and tells the story of her young life from her 15 to her 25 years. Produced by Pascal Breton Federation Studios President and co-created and co-directed by multi-awarded directors Danièle and Christopher Thompson, the series plans to attract a general audience, the whole family since France Télévisions will broadcast the series in France. The title was also sold to Mediaset (Italy) NRK (Norway) DR (Denmark) YLE (Finland) SVT (Sweden) RUV (Island) Turkcell (Turkey) and worldwide to Netflix.
"We knew about Brigitte Bardot, but we didn't really know the intimacy of her life", confessed Christopher Thompson. "As we started working and going through material and newspapers at the time, a character started to emerge from this icon or the very well known person that was basically the story of a young woman", he said.
Young and free, Bardot (starring exceptionally by Julia de Nunes) was passionate and liberated while defying the rules of the society of the time. Sometimes labeled as a bimbo, unanimously considered the most beautiful woman of the world, Brigitte Bardot provoked, in spite of herself, a worldwide sexual revolution. A woman ahead of her time, ten years before the life-changing events of May 68. "She came from a bourgeois family with a very strict and Catholic education, this environment was very surprising and romantic and violent. There's a mixture of all these elements in the series", described Danièle Thompson.
Bardot lived her life freely, discovering love, sex and herself at a young age, and the Judgment and harassment were also part of her life journey. "These are very, actual subjects today", admitted Christopher. "She was not herself a feminist in a political way but she was amazingly feminist in the way that she behaved", added Danièle who has also mentioned the animal activist work Bardot has done during her adult life. "She now is a figure in France for this work because she's given all her money to her animal foundation".
France Télévisions decided to bet on "Bardot" because the scripts are very well written but also because as a public broadcaster service, they are interested to portray the society of the 50'. "We want to portray the elements of that era, the end of the woman being espoused and mother, the end of people going to war in Algeria, the beginning of the spectacle society," explained Morad Koufane. "The portrayal of society with the angle of Brigitte Bardot, it's very appealing for a public broadcaster service," he added.
MAIN CHALLENGES
As Pascal Breton said, the most difficult challenge was to create a story that will be relevant to audiences now, especially for young generations. "We wanted a story where people could feel very close to Bardot, feel an empathy with her. It's not about telling a story in the 50s, it's about telling a story that is universal", he stated. The Federation Studios President also commented that the key was also to find the perfect actress to play Brigitte Bardot. "We were not expecting to find a young woman who would look like Bardot, we thought it would be impossible. So we were mainly looking for someone who would be wild, who would be free, who would be different, who would have the courage, and the miracle was we found Julia de Nunez that looked like Bardot and also has her voice", he said.
"Bardot" can be a series attractive for global audiences because she was a phenomenon, she was different and unique at that time. "She was someone that really changed the rules", affirmed Breton. "She is still a brand, she's almost an influencer, because the style is very important but beyond that, it's the intimacy of this young girl which is a very universal thing", said Christopher Thompson.
GLOBAL PREMIERE
"Bardot" will have its world premiere at Series Mania with the presence of the directors and screenwriters Danièle Thompson and Christopher Thompson; the composer, Arthur Simonini and the talents Julia de Nunez, Victor Belmondo, Géraldine Pailhas, Yvan Attal.
Federation Studios will also be presenting "Six Women" (6x52’), produced by Federation (Habanita) for TF1 and "Under Control" (6x30'), produced by Ex Nihilo for ARTE in the French competition.