France TV Distribution has added the documentary “Building Paris” (“Construire Paris”) to its lineup and will premiere it at Sunny Side of the Doc, running June 22-24 and designed to bring the international documentary community together in France.

The doc focuses on 19th century Paris and the radical changes it went through after Emperor Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann set out to modernize the city. The filmmakers had exclusive access to famous monuments like Haussman’s Opera House and hidden locations beneath the city, combined with impressive VFX.

“‘Building Paris’ tells the transformation of Paris on three levels: the visible city, with its elegant buildings and grand boulevards; Paris from above, with its endless sea of zinc rooftops and exceptional viewpoints, including the roof of the Opéra Garnier, which is normally closed to the public; and finally the hidden city beneath the streets,” said director Guy Padovani (“Chauvet Humanity’s First Great Masterpiece,” “Denisova Unveiled”).

“The film also reveals how Paris went on to influence cities and capitals across Europe, South America and, more recently, China. One striking example is a district in Hangzhou that recreated an entire Haussmannian neighborhood, complete with its own Eiffel Tower,” Padovani continued.

The two-part 45-minute episode documentary series has been “commissioned by France Télévisions for its flagship primetime science strand, ‘Science Grand Format.’ It’s also part of the Global Doc initiative, an alliance of major international broadcasters. The project follows the success of ‘The Eiffel Tower: Building the Impossible.’ Distributed by France TV Distribution, the film was sold to more than 35 countries worldwide,” producer Patrice Gellé told Variety.

“Following the worldwide success of the film about Eiffel, we are convinced that this proposal will appeal to our foreign partners, who will discover both the medieval and the rebuilt Paris in a completely unprecedented way, along with the history of this iconic city that has influenced major capitals around the world,” said Julia Schulte, SVP International Sales at France TV Distribution.

“Building Paris” is produced by Gellé and Catherine Alvaresse (KM – Banijay, France) and will be distributed worldwide by France TV Distribution.

Variety had a chance to talk to producer Gellé and director Padovani about the documentary:

Can you talk a little bit about Haussmann’s work and his legacy in transforming Paris into the city it is today?

Patrice Gellé: How can a medieval city be transformed into a modern metropolis—the City of Light? That was the starting point of our documentary. Before Haussmann’s works began in 1853, Paris was a dangerous and unsanitary medieval city, plagued by open-air sewers, poor living conditions, and cholera outbreaks. The city lagged far behind modern capitals such as London. Our film reveals that the iconic Paris we know today was largely inspired by London. During his exile there, the future Emperor Napoleon III discovered a highly organized urban plan, a revolutionary sewer system, and vast public parks like Hyde Park. These innovations shaped his bold vision to rebuild Paris as a modern and sustainable capital.

Guy Padovani: Emperor Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann achieved what many thought impossible: they radically transformed Paris into one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. The masterpiece of the Second Empire is undoubtedly the Opéra Garnier. At the time, it boasted the most spectacular façade in Paris, adorned with sculptures, marble columns, and gilded ornamentation. We were granted exclusive access to film its magnificent façade while it’s undergoing restoration. I could also film in one of its most secret and fascinating locations: the underground lake beneath the Opera House, alongside the Paris Fire Brigade, which conducts underwater rescue training exercises there every year. The reservoir was built to stabilize the monument, which stands on marshy ground. 


What kind of VFX techniques did you work with?

Padovani: I wanted to create premium visual effects that would immerse audiences in the extraordinary rebirth of Paris. To achieve this, I imagined a family and a young maid living in a newly built Haussmannian apartment building and witnessing the transformation of the city from their doorstep. We follow them throughout the story through highly realistic facial animation and character performances, combined with a visual style inspired by 19th-century paintings. These CGI sequences are designed to convey the emotion, power and monumental scale of the transformation.

Gellé: Our ambition was to bring back the magic of Old Paris and the colossal transformation led by Napoleon III and Haussmann, with premium production values in both cinematography and visual effects. Nearly one-third of the film’s budget is dedicated to VFX, allowing us to create an immersive journey through Paris’s most spectacular monuments.

Did you discover any interesting historical bits of information that set Paris apart from other major cities?

Gellé: What sets Paris apart from cities such as London, New York or Rome is that its modernization lasted for more than 40 years. Imagine living with construction works day and night for most of your life – that ‘s what makes this transformation so extraordinary! Napoleon III and Haussmann faced criticism and opposition throughout the project: the destruction of historic streets and buildings, the expropriation of thousands of residents, and the rise of real-estate speculation.

Padovani: 60% of the city was transformed. Around 20,000 buildings were demolished and 30,000 were constructed. More than 64 kilometers of new streets and wide avenues were created, and 80,000 trees were planted. In that sense, the transformation of Paris under Napoleon III and Haussmann remains one of the most fascinating urban projects of the 19th century.