Award-winning French director, Jean-Jacques Annaud (‘The Bear’, ‘Quest for Fire’, ‘Seven Years in Tibet’) attended the premiere of his latest masterpiece, NOTRE DAME ON FIRE at Rosebank Cinema Nouveau in Johannesburg last night. The event was hosted by Anant Singh and Videovision Entertainment in partnership with the French Institute of South Africa, the Embassy of France in South Africa and Unifrance Films.
NOTRE DAME ON FIRE is an immersive narrative drama with firefighters at the heart of the action. The film offers a blow-by-blow recreation of the gripping events that took place on April 15, 2019, when the Notre Dame cathedral suffered the biggest blaze in its history. The film retraces how heroic men and women put their lives on the line to accomplish an awe-inspiring rescue. NOTRE DAME ON FIREstars Samuel Labarthe, Jean-Paul Bordes, Mickaël Chirinian.
Speaking at the premiere, Anant Singh said, “We are delighted to have our friend, Jean-Jacques Annaud return to South Africa to present NOTRE DAME ON FIRE. He has crafted an awe-inspiring film which captures the events around the burning of the cathedral with authenticity and a sense of reality. I thank Jean-Jacques, producer Jérôme Seydoux (who was our partner on MANDELA : LONG WALK TO FREEDOM) for making this special film. We are also pleased to continue our relationship with the Embassy of France in South Africa and the French Institute of South Africa for the promotion of French cinema in South Africa.”
Mr Arnaud Roux, Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Embassy of France in South Africa commented: “The première of Notre Dame on Fire last evening was a celebration of the ever-growing friendship between France and South Africa in the cinema sector. We thank Videovision Entertainment for their investment in bringing French cinema to South African screens, and look forward to the future of French-South African audiovisual cooperation, especially in light of a renewed and expanded audiovisual co-production agreement between the two countries.”
NOTRE DAME ON FIRE opens on Friday, November 11 at Hyde Park, Rosebank Nouveau, Brooklyn, V&A Nouveau, The Labia and Gateway.
The film is a Videovision Entertainment release through United International Pictures (South Africa).
