Silence, things are turning in Roussillon. Films and series love these settings between sea and mountains

A few days ago, there was still a chance to see actress Isabelle Huppert at the bend of a street in Perpignan, in the middle of filming André Téchiné’s next film, “In the viewfinder”. For several years, the filmmaker has enjoyed the region and regularly comes to film there. He is not the only one. “Among the departments of Occitanie, the Pyrénées-Orientales are particularly popular in terms of filming locations, apart from Hérault and Haute-Garonne, confirms Maxime Beaufey of the Film Commission, integrated into Occitanie Films. The decors are varied and unique with the sea and the mountains within easy reach. »

An argument that hits the mark with productions because it is synonymous with simplification for team travel. This winter, Font-Romeu hosted the filming of the France 3 TV movie “Meurtre à Font-Romeu”, now awaiting a broadcast date. In 2023, TF1 will shoot a new series, “Lost Rivers”, entirely in the department for fourteen weeks. Other filming is planned “but the teams prefer to talk about it after the fact to preserve their peace of mind”. The actor François-Xavier Demaison, who navigates between Paris and the Pyrénées-Orientales, is also working on a film project which would be shot in Roussillon. “There are no shooting dates for the moment, indicates the representative of the Commission of the film. It will be rather for the end of 2023, in the best of the cases. »

Filming by André Téchiné lasted seven weeks. “It is estimated that a team represents between 100,000 euros and 150,000 euros in economic benefits per week,” says Maxime Beaufey. Half represents the salaries of technicians, actors… “If Montpellier, Sète and Toulouse are the main areas of employment for the cinema, some people are also recruited locally, such as extras or management positions. In Soler, the Idem, higher school of creative and digital industries, is also a breeding ground for skills. The other part of filming expenses are spin-offs – accommodation, transport, provision of services, etc. – which directly benefit the region.