ABBE PIERRE – A CENTURY OF DEVOTION

L’Abbé Pierre – une vie de combats

North American Premiere | France | 2023 | Biopic, Drama | 138 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Frédéric Tellier
Written by: Frédéric Tellier, Olivier Gorce
Produced by: Wassim Béji (WY Productions), Thierry Desmichelle, Pierre-Louis Arnal, Rémi Jimenez (SND Groupe M6)
Cinematography: Renaud Chassaing
Film Editing: Valérie Deseine
Original Score: Bryce Dessner
Cast: Benjamin Lavernhe (L’Abbé Pierre), Emmanuelle Bercot (Lucie Coutaz), Michel Vuillermoz (Georges Legay), Antoine Laurent (François), Alain Sachs (Father Superior), Leila Muse (the nurse), Malik Amraoui (Ahmed), Chloé Stefani (Marlène Porte)
International Sales: SND Groupe M6

Priest, member of parliament, humanitarian, revolutionary and iconoclast, Abbé Pierre has been one of the most popular public figures in France for decades. Frédéric Tellier‘s comprehensive biopic traces his long, colorful life, from his youth as a Franciscan friar convinced that his life’s vocation would be fasting and praying at the remote Capuchin Monastery. But life had another path in store for Abbé Pierre. Outraged by the misery and injustice he saw all around him, he joined the French Resistance, risking his life to help Jews escape Vichy France during WWII, and created the remarkable Emmaüs movement, battling poverty and homelessness in France — and, ultimately, the world over. This is his story.

Frédéric Tellier began his career as assistant director on numerous music videos and commercials, then served as art director and assistant director on Olivier Marchal’s feature 36th Precinct (2004). He directed episodes of the series Un flic (2007-2008) and Les Hommes de l’Ombre (2012), and the TV movies Obsessions (2009) and The Robin Hoods of the Poor (2011). He co-wrote and directed his first feature, SK1 (COLCOA 2015), based on the real-life police investigation into France’s first serial killer, which was nominated for César Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best First Film. That was followed by Through the Fire (2018) and Goliath (2022). Abbé Pierre – A Century of Devotion premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled for release in France in November.