French filmmakers are working on the Raising Notre-Dame, a three-part documentary, dedicated to the works in Notre Dame de Paris.

Reported by Variety.

The director of the film is Vincent Amuru, known as one of the directors of the popular science series about space "Living Universe".

The producer of the tape is Christine Le Goff, among the projects with her participation are the fantastic film by Werner Herzog "The Distant Blue Heights" and the documentary "The Mysteries of Cathedrals Solved".

The authors of the "Restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral" touch on both the history of the construction of the 800-year-old architectural monument and plans for its reconstruction. 

Documentary filmmakers gained access to the premises of the cathedral.

As part of the work on the film, they consulted with the staff of the National Center for Scientific Research.

In particular, during filming, it became known that Notre Dame de Paris may be the first Gothic structure of the 12th century, during the construction of which iron was used to make the structure more stable.

Initially, it was assumed that the duration of the film will be 90 minutes.

However, later the filmmakers decided that it would take twice as much screen time to reflect the impressive amount of collected data.

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  • © Ian Langsdon / Pool

“We realized that it would take us three hours to thoroughly explore Notre Dame and demonstrate the uniqueness of this cathedral, as well as understand the serious challenges posed to us by the original building design and the restoration process that will begin in about eight months - and that underneath everything this, in the midst of this chaos, hides beauty, ”says producer Christine Le Goff.

Her words are quoted by Variety.

She also drew attention to the fact that the reconstruction of Gothic cathedrals of this scale has not been carried out since the Second World War.

According to Le Goff, the tape is dedicated not only to the history of architecture, but also to the "colossal human efforts" required to carry out restoration work.

“Notre Dame Cathedral is like a patient surrounded by doctors who prescribe medicines, dress wounds and diagnose to make a diagnosis.

This is the essence of the approach we have chosen: to humanize Notre Dame, ”said the producer.

The fire in Notre Dame Cathedral began on the evening of April 15, 2019.

Restoration work was carried out in the building.

According to experts, the cause of the tragedy could be a power failure, an unextinguished cigarette or an accident in the elevator used by the builders.

One way or another, the fire happened through an oversight and became evidence of the need to pay more attention to ensuring the safety of other architectural monuments.

In the fire, the spire and clock of the cathedral were destroyed, the roof of the building and the transverse nave were seriously damaged.

Later, the collapse of the masonry was observed several times.

Therefore, before the restoration began, it was necessary to strengthen the cathedral.

Experts pointed to the risk of collapse of vaults and flying buttresses, as well as scaffolding erected around the cathedral.

To track any changes, motion sensors were installed in the building.

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  • © Benoit Tessier / Pool

Lead contamination of the surrounding area has also become a serious problem.

In the event of the collapse of the arches and the complete destruction of the cathedral, the surroundings could be covered with a cloud of toxic dust.

The general secretary of the trade union of the Paris police prefecture, Frederic Guillot, in an interview with RT France, noted that due to the desire to reconstruct the cathedral for the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held in the French capital, the authorities did not pay enough attention to the possible health problems of local residents.

In July 2019, work was suspended in accordance with the Labor Inspectorate's decree.

Earlier this step was pushed by the trade unions of the General Confederation of Labor and the association for the protection of man and the environment Robin de Bois ("Robin Hood").

In August 2019, the nearby streets and public institutions were cleaned.

Later, the progress of restoration work slowed down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In two years, the workers, under the guidance of experts and scientists, were able to strengthen the buttresses, preserve the stained glass windows and install structures for safe restoration work.

According to French President Emmanuel Macron, the worst-case scenario was avoided.

It is planned that the restoration of the cathedral will begin in 2022.