The famous Bozouls hole in Aveyron is at the heart of the new series “L’Éclipse”, broadcast for the first time on France 2 this Wednesday, September 4, 2024. The small town in the department attracts the greats of cinema and filming continues in the department.
Aveyron is becoming a land of cinema. After the American series “Mister Spade” filmed partly in the department, the town of Bozouls and its immense canyon are once again at the center of attention in the France TV series “L’Éclipse” whose first episode is broadcast this Wednesday evening at 9:10 p.m. on France 2.
Starring Claire Kaim, “The Eclipse” was filmed last September in the small town of around 3,000 inhabitants. Also starring actress Anne Charrier, the series tells the story of two police officers Manue and Johanna, caught up in a crazy investigation after the accidental shooting of the son of one of them on his girlfriend Nour un the evening of an eclipse. The young girl then disappears to make way for a plot where conflicts of interest and family secrets sow trouble.
This six-episode fiction chose Aveyron as its preferred setting. A choice made by producer Christophe Carmona, a native of the department.
At the heart of the series appears this immense canyon with practically vertical walls. Shaped like a horseshoe, the Bozouls hole attracts more than 200,000 visitors per year. And for good reason, with 400 meters in diameter and 100 meters deep, the canyon is as grandiose as it is picturesque.
The charm of Bozouls convinced producers to set up their cameras in the village for weeks.The town hall square with the belvedere was exactly what they were expecting. I am delighted, it shows that our site is attractive”, rejoices the mayor of the town, Jean-Luc Calmelly. Hoping that this will boost “tourist and residential attractiveness”, the mayor praises a “friendly” shoot at the end of which “all the actors want to come back as they received such an extraordinary welcome”.
Town hall transformed into a police station, farms adjoining the village as filming locations, the production team knew how to take advantage of the surroundings to make its police series. All the exteriors of the latter were filmed in the natural settings of northern Aveyron. “I was able to see the episodes in preview and I can tell you that the images really do honor to our department”, confides Jean-Luc Calmelly.
Filming of the series L’Éclipse in Bozouls.
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© Louis Perin FTV
In addition to “The Eclipse”, fans of the small screen have already been able to see the Bozouls canyon in another series: “Mister Spade”. Directed by Scott Frank, known for the success of the fiction “The Queen’s Gambit”, this American series broadcast on Canal + has also chosen the charm of Bozouls and its surroundings.
The filming of “Mister Spade” was set up in the town two years ago. The series tells the story of American detective Sam Spade at the end of the Algerian War in 1963 in the south of France. Jean-Luc Calmelly remembers an extraordinary filming: “It was monumental. The Americans really had a lot of resources. They even used all the car parks.”
As if that wasn’t enough for the department of the Occitanie region, Villefranche-de-Rouergue had also served as a setting for the series ” All the light we cannot see », broadcast on the Netflix platform since November 2023. Filming is therefore continuing… to the great delight of the department’s residents.
