Mission Cinema connects cinema and force

Building on the critical success and renewed public interest sparked by the Canal Plus series “The Bureau” and inspired by the various Hollywood liaison offices of the United States Department of Defense, the Department of Defense The French Armed Forces launched their own approach station, inaugurating Mission Cinéma in 2016.

Meant to be a hub for all production needs, Mission Cinéma presents itself as a single point of access to the French defense ministry, providing technical support to filmmakers, Free immersive training and residency sessions.

In practical terms, that means coordinating requirements for dress, locations, and highly protected documents (including the Presidential plane, which seems to be a common requirement), and at the same time organize creative scouting missions for screenwriters and producers, send film professionals aboard aircraft carriers, and let them witness drills to spark the imagination.

Mission collaborated with director Jean-Jacques Annaud in early pre-production on “Notre Dame on Fire“Puts the filmmaker in contact with real firefighters who extinguished the blaze, providing access and full technical support and advice throughout the process.

Mission Cinéma director Eve-Lise Blanc Deleuze said: “This office has a single purpose. “To bring authenticity and credibility to a project. We are not here to honor the military and its activities. We do not want an avatar. We just want to show things as they really are.”

“We work very closely with the screenwriters and directors,” she continued. “Our job is to help create similarities, not reproduce reality. The creator is their responsibility; We are happy to offer our technical skills, experience and materials to bring their vision to life. ”

For “The Wolf’s Call” 2019, the Mission consulted screenwriter/director Antonin Baudry on questions of authenticity and protocol, offering technical advice on the films. and plan actual maritime maneuvers to coincide with the scene. Blanc Deleuze said: “Even a big Hollywood production company can’t afford a real submarine. “So we coordinated our own exercises with the shoot, which made the production a lot less expensive!”

Recently, Mission supported two series of events slated for 2022, helping Amazon Prime produce “Black Hearts” that recall the Battle of Mosul in 2016 and OCS’s original “Sentinels” that reenact Sahelian campaigns against to Boko Haram.

And on the cinematic front, they worked on a more intimate register, consulting André Techiné’s “Feet on the Ground,” which follows a young soldier recovering from an injury. and about Robin Campillo’s “École de l’air,” then a young boy growing up in a French military base in the 1970s. Both projects are headed for Cannes.