France Bleu Occitanie announced it to you in January, it is coming! In a month, on April 13 exactly, the film “Le Stade” will be released, the film about the Stade Toulousain. An unprecedented cinematic immersion retracing last season haloed by a historic double Champions Cup – Top 14. The rugby club of the pink city, the most successful in France and Europe, opened its doors wide to directors Eric Hannezo and Matthieu Vollaire.
“The confidence was total” – Eric Hannezo, co-director of the film “Le Stade”
With the expertise of a director already accustomed to the world of sport, Eric Hannezo, 30 years of experience in sport, was our guest this Tuesday, March 8 on France Bleu Occitanie to talk to us about the film. “With Matthieu Vollaire, we had been looking for a very strong cinematic experience to achieve in the world of sport for a long time. The expected feat? Encourage as many people as possible to go and live an experience around sport in the cinema. Rugby, then the Stade Toulousain became obvious for the two directors, especially after the club’s historic season last year.
“So immersive that the viewer is a member of Stade Toulousain”
The director promises “a pretty crazy experience, as immersive as possible”. This is not a classic documentary, “it’s a real movie” said Eric Hannezo. The dramaturgy and all the events that are the mainspring of a great fiction or a great series today, “you have it naturally with sport” explains the co-director of the film “Le Stade”. Eric Hannezo details a film, where we are immersed in the sequences and as often as possible, the spectator is “inside the club”, is one of the members of the Stade Toulousain.
Ugo Mola in a role of main character?
In films that tell the story of a team, the personality of the coach always marks. “I took a slap at every speech by Ugo Mola” says Eric Hannezo. “A coach with strong, moving, moving words”.
The bias of this film is really to have an immersive experience by living or reliving the historic season of Stade Toulousain. The idea is to go and see a cinema film that appeals to all audiences, to everyone. “It would be great to go see the film as a group, with friends, to relive this crazy season”.
Here is the trailer for the film “Le Stade” which will be released in theaters on April 13th.
A black and white film?
“Black and white is very important“, it gives power to the images. “It’s a creative gesture. The choice of black and white was essential in post-production, to give a timeless side, and further reinforces the dramaturgy for rugby” says Eric Hannezo. The film will not be entirely in black and white, but the co-director does not want to say more. “The 1995 film La Haine, for example, has not aged a bit”.
The film produced by Black Dynamite, Groupe Mediawan, and directed by Eric Hannezo and Matthieu Vollaire, has one ambition: to make a date and mark the spirits. See you on April 13 in dark rooms.