An unprecedented documentary in the heart of the Paris fire station.
For a year, director Manuel Laigre slipped into the daily life of firefighters.
He went with them on the ground, in burning buildings, to film the risks taken by the firefighters every day.
The result can be watched on M6, Sunday evening.
"The first moments are frightening," says Manuel Laigre.
This director followed the Paris firefighters for a year to create an impressive documentary.
He was at the heart of the fires, in their barracks, but also in front of the former premises of Charlie Hebdos during the chopper attack last September.
The journalist of the M6 channel tells Friday at the microphone of Europe 1 his unprecedented experience.
"The first moments are scary, the smell, the faces of the people who come out, then above all you go against the tide, so you meet people who are fleeing, scared and you go in the other direction", tells Manuel Laigre .
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In these burning buildings, he had to keep his cool to be as close as possible to the Paris firefighters.
"There are the fumes, the heat, all those things. But you have to stay the course, by following your characters, by asking questions to really have the reactions on the spot," explains the director.
"I had a hard time imagining a documentary without being by their side"
To create this documentary, Manuel Laigre spent an entire year with the Parisian firefighters.
An immersion more than necessary, according to him.
"I had trouble imagining a documentary without being by their side".
He explains that initially on-board cameras were envisaged but they did not allow the firefighters' reactions to be obtained during the events.
"I really wanted to be able to film them and question them depending on the situation. It seems simple but that's the whole point of the documentary", continues Manuel Laigre.
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Difficult filming conditions
A condition exists to be able to shoot so close to the firefighters: to do a ten-day training course to become familiar with the flames, the smoke, the heat.
It was only after that he was able to leave for the field, where the filming conditions were very difficult.
"The firefighters should not be disturbed: they put out the fire and took out the victims," he says.
Before adding: "We had to find the best place to have an exploitable image because of the fumes, because of the water. The smallest fire hoses discharge 200 liters per minute. So, obviously, it comes back a little on you and from a technical point of view it is not easy to manage ”.
The documentary
Pompiers de Paris: A year in the heart of an elite unit
will be broadcast on the program
Zone Interdite
Sunday evening at 9 p.m. on M6.