five documentaries and films about the fire and restoration

CULTURE- On April 15, 2019, Notre-Dame de Paris was devoured by a gigantic fire. It reopens its doors after a mammoth project lasting five years and a budget of 846 million euros. After an inauguration with great fanfare, tourists can now visit it again (after reserving their entry) and believers can worship there.

The dramatic fire, however, entered the history of the 12th century building and of the French capital. Its restoration, also unprecedented. A double event which greatly inspired directors and documentarians. The proof by 5.

· Notre-Dame de Paris, standing the test of the centuries on francetv replay

Emmanuel Blanchard’s documentary looks back on the history of the cathedral, from the beginnings of its construction until the fire of 2019. A story that traces more than eight centuries of French history. Sophie Marceau lends her voice to the documentary released in 2019, which takes an original form. It is in fact through animated images that it looks back on the key dates in the construction of the building and the various events which almost destroyed it over the centuries.

· Notre-Dame de Paris on TF1 +

Brothers Jules and Gédéon Naudet, to whom we notably owe the documentary series on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, produced a documentary in 2020 on the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris. In the film, they return, with supporting testimonies, to the precise course of the evening and night of April 15, 2019. The opportunity to retrace the event, over a period of 1h30, in particular through the eyes firefighters who intervened on site, but also via images retrieved from anonymous sources, the police or even TV channels. The documentary film can be seen again on TF1 +.

· Notre-Dame Burns by Jean-Jacques Annaud

Released in 2022, the feature film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and shot in particular in Saint-Étienne, follows the fight of the fire soldiers to try to control the flames on April 15, 2019, and save as many of the cathedral’s treasures as possible. In the cast, there is Samuel Labarthe, Chloé Jouannet, Pierre Lottin, Vassili Schneider, Jean-Paul Bordes, Mikaël Chirinian, and even Jérémie Laheurte.

In this fiction, as Jean-Jacques Annaud explained to HuffPost in 2022, everything is true: the most mind-blowing events which led to this “ amazing non-alignment of the planets »but also the flames, which burned, for the filming, the life-size reconstruction of the cathedral. The film is available on Canal+ and Prime Video.

· Investigation into the buried treasures of Notre-Dameon Arte TV

Florence Tran’s documentary film deciphers in 1 hour 16 minutes the work of the archaeologists who carried out preventive excavations in the basement of the cathedral after the fire. Excavations which allowed the discovery of numerous treasures such as the precious Jubé (stone portal), but also burials and in particular two sealed lead coffins which contained the remains of prestigious religious figures and required the help of archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic doctors. The documentary is available on Arte TV and YouTube.

· Our Lady Resurrection on francetv replay

The documentary film retraces the titanic restoration of the cathedral over nearly two hours. It follows the challenge that carpenters, roofers, paint restorers, sculptors, stained glass workers, rope access technicians and other architects from all over France accepted to take on to restore Notre-Dame to its former splendor in record time. Xavier Lefebvre’s cameras benefited from unprecedented access to the site. The documentary is available in replay on the francetv website.

Also see on HuffPost :