The Festival de La Rochelle TV Fiction, which will take place from September 10 to 15, has just announced the official selection for this new edition, promising a rich and diverse lineup as always. This year, 40 works will be presented in the official competition, along with 7 special events that will be premiered, much to the delight of festival-goers. A must-attend event of the season, the 26th edition will be presided over by Thierry Godard, an iconic face of French television, who will also present the first two episodes of his new series, Rivages, in a special screening. The jury will also include actress Sonia Rolland, actor Jérémy Nadeau, director Stéphanie Pillonca, composer Bastien Burger, producer Pauline Gygax, and screenwriter Caroline Franc. Discover the detailed program of the 26th edition of the Festival de la Rochelle TV Fiction.
Special Events:
**Les enfants sont rois – Disney+**
When a 6-year-old girl is kidnapped in broad daylight, the shockwave extends beyond her family circle as the girl, Kimmy, is a star whose daily videos are followed by millions of viewers. The investigation is entrusted to Sara Roussel, Chief of the SDPJ Brigade. To try to save the little girl, Sara must delve into a world she knows nothing about and enter the intimacy of this family that has learned to live under the watchful eye of their community. While the « fans » of the little girl conduct their own investigation, establish theories, and designate their culprits, Sara irresistibly approaches Mélanie, the mother of the little girl. From confidences to confidences, this mother will reveal her secrets and those of her entourage until casting doubt on the real culprit.
**Cimetière indien – Canal+**
In 1995, Lidia, a young ambitious recruit of anti-terrorism, is sent to Peranne to investigate the scalping of an imam, alongside Jean, a disillusioned gendarme haunted by his memories of the Algerian war. 25 years later, the former mayor of Peranne is murdered. And while Lidia is at the peak of a seemingly impeccable career, Jean disappears overnight. The past that everyone thought was definitively buried resurfaces.
**Murder club – M6**
When a young policewoman from the criminal department is ostracized by her unit after letting the only witness escape in the pursuit of a serial killer, she has no choice but to team up with another pariah, a former depressed and troubled profiler, to make amends for her mistake and try to stop the killer before it’s too late.
**Une amie dévouée – MAX**
On the night of November 13, 2015, Christelle, like the rest of the country, is in shock. The next day, she contacts several direct or collateral victims online, and when the idea of creating a victims’ association takes shape, Christelle becomes its cornerstone. But she lives in a lie.
**Cat’s Eyes – TF1**
In 2023, in the City of Light, Alexia, Tam, and Sylia reunite after years of separation. At the same time, a work that belonged to their father who disappeared ten years ago in the mysterious fire of his art gallery resurfaces at a prestigious exhibition at the Eiffel Tower. They decide to take all risks to steal it in the hope of finally understanding what happened to him. Quickly, the trio finds itself in the crosshairs of Quentin Chapuis, captain of the BRB, tasked with arresting these new thieves who keep eluding him. But he is unaware that among them hides his lifelong love, Tam.
**Le monde n’existe pas – Arte**
Adam Vollmann is 40 years old, a journalist for the web editorial staff of a major national daily. One morning, the portrait of Axel Challe, designated as the prime suspect in the murder of a young girl in Guerches-sur-Isoire, appears on the TV screen in front of him. When he insists to his editor-in-chief to leave immediately on a report there, he explains that he comes from there, that he grew up there. What he doesn’t say is that he knows Axel Challe well: he was his friend. Moreover, Axel Challe was the demi-god of his childhood.
**Ça, c’est Paris ! – France Télévisions**
Gaspard Berthille is the director of Tout-Paris, a famous cabaret maintaining the myth of the wild Parisian nights like the Paradis Latin and other major cabarets in the capital. But unlike his father, Dary, the former director and legendary revue leader, Gaspard failed to perpetuate the establishment’s fame. Is it due to an aging show? To a poorly managed Gaspard? To more innovative competition? Gaspard will have to make choices, but the arrival of a new investor, accompanied by his son, will shake up his initial decision and profoundly change the lives and destinies of the entire team at Tout-Paris.
Official Competition:
**A l’épreuve – France 2**
Ambre, 20 years old, studies law, encouraged by modest parents who dream of her becoming a lawyer. When a baby arrives unexpectedly, everything collapses. Three years later, with two years of university validated on her CV, Ambre slams the door on her overly suffocating parents to prove that she can manage without them. Finding a job, finding an apartment, it shouldn’t be so difficult, right? But very quickly, Ambre must resign herself to accepting the only viable job that will allow her to offer a roof to her son: a garbage collector. Moreover, in the most morally and physically tough section: the Functional, a sort of GIGN of cleanliness intervening day and night to clean the city after accidents, protests, and attacks.
**Les Ailes Collées – France 2**
It’s a story full of truth that explores deep themes like budding love, the unsaid, the complexity of adolescence, and the cruelty of bullying. The sensitivity with which the honest portrait of adolescence is drawn in the first part and the reunion 15 years later of Paul and Joseph, having made their adult life a vibrant, touching story that remains intact in their relationship despite life’s ups and downs.
