Notre-Dame is the inspiration for Jean-Jacques Annaud’s new film

French director Jean-Jacques Anod has returned to Hollywood at the age of 78 with his latest production, Notre-Dame en Flames, the first action thriller about fighting the flames that have engulfed his beloved Paris cathedral. Organizers have announced that the Oscar-winning director’s film will open the French Film Festival in the United States, which takes place in October in Los Angeles.

“I am closer to Notre Dame now and further away from Los Angeles. But part of my heart is still there,” Anoud admitted.

fireworks

The director said the story of the fire that devoured this 12th-century Gothic landmark in Paris in 2019 was “a fantastic drama that only a crazy screenwriter could imagine.” Our Lady of Fire tells the story of the firefighters who risked their lives to put out the flames before the cathedral was destroyed, as well as the errors and accidents that delayed the initial response.

The film combines archival footage of the fire with scenes filmed by Anod that simulate tragedy.

We follow a ranger accidentally checking the attic when he hears the first fire alarm, fire trucks stuck in Parisian traffic and a foreman whose bike breaks down on his way to the scene of the disaster.

“When I was writing the script, it felt like pure gold… It was so silly, so amazing,” said Anod. “Fire is very attractive,” he told Portuguese website Sapo.

The information comes from the newspaper. State of Sao Paulo.