Until now, the town of Bugarach was renowned as a mythical place inspiring many legends. Since May 31, 2024, Bugarach also becomes the name of the new series co-produced by France 3 Occitanie and Cantina Studio to be discovered on the France.tv platform.
Clearly, the small town dominated by Mount Bugarach culminating at 1,230 meters above sea level seems to be an inexhaustible Source of inspiration.
Ten years ago, the village was under media fire. On December 21, 2012, according to Mayan writings, the Apocalypse was to occur. Only a handful of human beings were to be saved by aliens on Bugarach peak.
In 2022, this same village inspired director Fabien Montagner and screenwriter Philippe Paumier. They saw in this landscape and its peakalso called the “inverted mountain”, the ideal setting to tell a contemporary story in the form of a fantastic fiction series.
Investigating the disappearance of her father, Emilie, the main character and her elderly friends about twenty years olddiscover access to several parallel universes which will lead them to accomplish a mission of great importance: to avoid an ecological catastrophe.
We tell you a little more (but not everything) about the series before discovering it from May 31, 2024 on the France.tv platform.
The Bugarach series focuses on three characters, three girls whose temperament and personal and family history distinguish them from other students. They all question their path in life, seeking its meaning, to escape the wounds of the past. Émilie is the heroine of the story, the one through whom the adventure arrives.
The disappearance of his father is a trigger. The discovery of a Vortex on the Pic de Bugarach, leading to a multitude of alternative realities, is the opportunity to act. Emilie can not only change her destiny but also change that of others.
She will confront her fears, evolve, reveal herself until she becomes “the chosen one” in a large-scale battle. The challenge of his quest is both intimate – understanding what happened to his father – and global – avoiding an ecological catastrophe caused by the extraction of shale gas under Mount Bugarach.
Around environmental issues, nature protection, concern for the future of the planet, a trio of young actresses, Marylin Lima (for Emilia), Lula Cotton Frapier (for Justine) and Lisa Do Couto Teixeira (for Tessa), play the main characters who defend values such as strong friendship, sorority and generational solidarity. In this way, the series is contemporary and is aimed at all audiences.
I wanted a series that was dynamic and in tune with the times, while addressing deep existential questions.
Fabien Montagner, screenwriter and director
The choices we make throughout our lives have consequences on our personal destinies and on society.
What must we do to live in a better world? To this crucial question, the series provides an answer that makes us all fantasize: the existence of universes parallel to ours.
What truths await our heroes as they enter the next world? Will they be tempted to never return?
This narrative principle ensures the immediate identification of the viewer. He will share the characters’ dilemmas, because they echo a universal human question: What would I do if I could change the course of my life?
The answer may be in one of the 8 episodes of the Bugarch series to be seen on the France.tv platform from May 31, 2024.
