Joffrey Devillers, for Nadine who died in the Notre-Dame attack in Nice
A little more than four years after the attack on the Notre-Dame basilica which took Nadine from him, the woman of his life, Joffrey Devillers, will face the ordeal of the trial, like the relatives of the two other victims: Simone Barreto- Silva, 44 years old and Vincent Loquès, 54 years old. The hearing will take place before the special assize court in Paris from February 10 to 28. Brahim Aouissaoui will have to answer for “assassinations and attempted assassinations in relation to a terrorist enterprise”.
“The final stretch of a drama that turned my life upside down”he whispers. Joffrey Devillers wants to experience this “painful but crucial deadline, thoroughly, in the positive, as in the negative”. With, of course, “a little apprehension and more anger. But without hatred, I don’t want to lower myself to his level”jure Joffrey. “I’m going to look the terrorist in the eyes. And I have things to say to him,” promises Nadine’s husband who was 60 years old when she crossed paths with her tormentor. Dignified, strong, even if his half is amputated, Joffrey Devillers smiles: “I have faith in justice, I know it will happen and I know it will be fair.”
Luc Ankri boss of the Nice police hotel mega construction site
Since 2021, Luc Ankri has been the conductor of the Nice police hotel. One of the missions of this sub-prefect appointed to ensure the successful completion of this mega-police station which will accommodate the national and municipal police forces of Nice in the city center, was to meet deadlines. Difficult on such a site. The police hotel should only open, in part, at the end of the year, and not in the first half of the year as hoped.
Orchestrating this rapprochement between all these security forces, providing the equipment necessary for their missions, imagining this new type of public service: this is also the role of this senior official who has already carried out many other projects such as the relocation of the Canadair base from Marignane to Nîmes. Ultimately, in place of the former Saint-Roch hospital, 2,000 civil servants will live together: around 1,200 from the national and 800 from the municipal. All services together: investigation, public security, intelligence, intervention forces.
S. G.
Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, captain of the Sommet de l’Océan in Nice
His life is not going to be smooth sailing this year. Olivier Poivre d’Arvor is at the helm of one of the major global events in 2025. And it is being held in Nice. The ambassador for the poles and maritime issues is the special envoy of the President of the Republic in charge of the United Nations Ocean Summit scheduled for June 9 to 13, 2025 in the Riviera capital. The former director of France Culture manages all the storms linked to such an organization. He oversees the work of the convention center which will welcome scientists, researchers, official delegations and heads of state. They are underway at the port of Nice. On the sidelines of the summit, from June 8, a scientific congress will bring together 2,000 researchers in Nice. And the Blue Economy and Finance Forum will take place from June 7 in Monaco.
S. G.
Florian Barbaro, the Nice resident who tracks down fake news generated by AI
What if it was his year? Florian Barbaro, a 32-year-old from Nice, founder of the start-up UncovAI, believes in it! It must be said that the solution that he has been implementing since February 2024 with two other people, as well as two interns and two MBAs, is promised to play a crucial role in today’s society. Track deepfakes, these fakes generated by artificial intelligence (AI), which continue to spread, particularly on networks. “We have developed a solution for detecting content generated by artificial intelligence. An in-house model based on mathematical models, lighter, more flexible, with a detection capacity as precise or more precise than our competitors”, argues the young business leader. An approach that is also more eco-friendly, because it consumes less energy.
In 2025, the start-up hopes to expand its customer portfolio. Because AI is everywhere. And above all, it can eat away at everyone. “We can become a tool for the media, to enable them to detect deepfakes, but also help insurance companies to detect AI fraud,” specifies Florian Barbaro.
S. G.
Gad Elmaleh launches his humor festival in Nice
A sunny personality. Who will mark the Nice scene. With a big burst of laughter: actor-humorist Gad Elmaleh launches his humor festival in Nice. A premiere, scheduled for this fall, in principle from October 4 to 9. Or? At the Palais Nikaïa, but we are also talking about the Franciscan room affiliated with the TNN and the Le Stockfish room, in the emerging Vauban district, which could host various hilarious performances.
Associated with Grégoire Furrer, expert in the production of comedy festivals and in particular creator of Montreux Comedy, Gad Elmaleh, who will be artistic director of the event, is banking on sure values, but also on new talents in humor, whose names are still kept secret. Just like the name of the master of ceremonies, responsible for managing this moment of joy which is meant to be contagious.
Ch. R.
Sylvain Le Floch, director of Nikaïa in Nice, focuses on eclecticism and quality
Eric Clapton, Lenny Kravitz, Gojira, Julien Doré, Clara Luciani… big year ahead for Nikaïa. The Nice concert hall has already announced around fifty dates for 2025 – and a good range also for 2026 – some of which are already sold out. On January 1, Nikaïa also welcomed its new director: Sylvain Le Floch, who took over from Corinne Assyag with whom he was already working on the management of this room, under municipal management since 2018. “The role of the director is to ensure that the venue is as attractive as possible, to accommodate as many shows as possible”sums up this 50-year-old rock enthusiast, who has worked, among other things, at the Élysée, the protocol of the City of Nice and the management of the Acropolis. “We listen to the productions, we make giant Lego®s on the schedule, we ensure monitoring to catch tours that would not pass through us… with the watchwords: eclecticism, diversity and quality. We has also opened up a lot about sport, as with MMA, and humor, with the Jubil festival for example, under the leadership of Gad Elmaleh, the equivalent of the Montreux festival!”
A. M.
Hugo Clément and Worakls, organizers of the Ocean Fest in Nice
The journalist Hugo Clément and the electronic music producer Worakls will be talked about this year in Nice. They take Ocean Fest there, the event that “puts the ocean in the spotlight” that they organize, brought together within the Blue Force association. It will be Saturday October 4, 2025 (1) at Nikaïa. And for the first Nice edition of their Ocean Fest, created in 2022, Hugo Clément and Worakls pulled off a very big coup: putting Indochina on stage. The rock group, which was another hit with its latest album, Babylon Babylonhad not placed Nice on the map of his new tour, the Ocean Fest will therefore be an unexpected opportunity to see them. And this concert will therefore mix the pleasant with the useful: in addition to the show by Indochina and other artists, the Ocean Fest will also offer conferences and will donate the funds generated to associations that work for the environment, such as Sea Shepherd, One Voice, NaturDive and Paddle Cleaner.
A. M.
1. The event initially planned for November 16 was postponed, in particular due to the detention in Greenland of Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, who was finally released on December 17.
