8th edition and good results for the professionals of the economy and the culture of Reunion who, from October 3 to 10, revealed to their producers and guest authors the potential of the island in terms of scenery, resources, talents. We were there !
We finally had the movie we dreamed of in Reunion
“Since we set up the educational tour La Réunion des Cinémas, we have hosted several feature films and series. And each time, we were happy. But there was always a little sorrow. The music was there. ‘Mauritius, the actor who was supposed to be the pool animator was rather Guadeloupe. There was always a little quack. There there was none, we had the film we dreamed of in Reunion, maybe from The Mississippi Mermaid. “
More than 50 years after François Truffaut, it was Gérard Jugnot who chose to put his cameras in Reunion Island to film his very last opus, expected in theaters in 2022. Shot entirely on the island, with a very strong majority of Local professionals, Le Petit Piaf is an initiatory tale that acutely stages the eclectic beauty of the island as much as its cultural specificities, without artifice or cliché.
The icing on the cake, the headliner formerly assigned to Jean Paul Belmondo, has been entrusted and this is a first, to a young actor from Reunion, Soan Arhimann, recent winner of The Voice Kids.
So many precious ingredients that explain the undisguised pride of Edy Payet, whose mission of the Agence Film Réunion is to host local and (inter) national shoots, bringing together and supporting professionals in the sector in the realization of their projects.
It has been eight years now that the Delegate General has embodied, alongside Gaston Bigey – General Director of the Regional Agency for Development, Investment and Innovation Nexa- the heart and reason for a project that has chosen to make audiovisual and cinematographic development a priority, aware of the capacity of the sector to enhance the wealth of the island with a lot of images and dreams.
Eight years of fruitful encounters with producers and writers from all over the world, invited to explore the best filming sites on the island, to discover local talent and to attend conferences focused on development aid.
Eight years of shared passions and reciprocal investments, materialized on small and large screens, despite the distance, the competition and the generalized health crisis. We take stock.
The largest open-air setting
“Reunion is a small pebble located 10,000 km from the decision-making centers of the Metropolis. If we want to develop our territory properly, we must make the effort to seek outside talent, knowledge and skills. make them want to come and discover in situ the assets we have. “
Once again this year, the level of requirement is high when, as soon as they arrive, guests have the privilege of discovering the variety of Reunionese scenery aboard a helicopter making them overlook its golden savannas, its green tropical forests, its blue lagoons. as far as the eye can see and its plain of lunar sands on the outskirts of the volcano.
Night in a lodge freed from the tumult of civilization, immersed in the majestic cirque of Cilaos, private concert of two mythical figures of local music brought together for the occasion (Ousanousava and Baster for the initiated), humor and stories local songs sung in the popular Pat’Jaunes cabaret: very quickly, imaginations are released in the face of the physical and cultural diversity of an authentic Reunion in which everything seems possible.
You have a plateau that covers the whole island!
“There is no studio in Reunion, I am told! But you have a set that spans the entire island, that is not enough for you to start working? The largest open-air setting!”, enthuses the director Rachid Dhibou (Hallal state police, Jimmy goes to Nollywood).
“If Ridley Scott had seen that near the volcano there was an open-air studio, he might not have gone to Budapest for Alone on Mars”, production manager Cyrille Bragnier (J’accuse, Le Dindon, Place Publique) says with humor.
Before adding: “You have to invite more people like me to the island because I take care of the operational management of the films in their production. I decide where we are going to shoot, in other words I spend the money. money that these producers here are able to raise. And I intend to spend this money here from now on. I will also be its ambassador. “



The lunar decor of the Plaine des Sables gives you the impression of being …