"Edouard, my friend on the right", an event documentary on Edouard Philippe

INTERVIEW

He is a "right-wing mate" unlike any other, since he was Prime Minister.

This friend is Edouard Philippe.

The politician is at the heart of the third episode of the documentary series devoted to him by Laurent Cibien.

The director has been a friend of Edouard Philippe for almost thirty years.

The two men met in preparatory class, just after the baccalaureate.

Laurent Cibien has been filming Edouard Philippe since 2004 and has already drawn two parts: one around his re-election as mayor of Le Havre in 2014, the other in 2016, while he was spokesperson for Alain Juppé during the primary from the right.

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An unusual friendly tone

This time, Laurent Cibien was able to film Edouard Philippe in the heart of power, in Matignon, for three years.

Each month, the Prime Minister devoted some of his precious time to his friend for an interview, or rather a filmed discussion.

Discussions with a tone necessarily much freer than with journalists.

"The fact that we know each other well, that we talk to each other and that we have fun changes the tone of our conversations, compared to what we are used to hearing from a Premier Minister on the 8 p.m. newspaper or on the radio, "observes Laurent Cibien.

"It is also a documentary work, therefore over a very long period. We are in another relationship to time, therefore in the way of speaking to each other."

Three years summed up in three hours

Edouard Philippe tells how he lived through several crises: that of Covid-19, that of yellow vests, that of hurricane Irma, among others. There have been crises in three years spent at Matignon. A long time summed up in three hours. An extremely rare, even unprecedented, duration for a documentary broadcast in the first part of the evening. But it must be said that the director had a lot of material: he shot in all a hundred days in Matignon.

"The material somewhat imposed the duration of the documentary, and the channel was convinced", rejoices the director. "We could say that three hours is a long time. But, at the same time, it's three historic years, in a place that we never document like that. And I think we are not bored. and that there is almost a suspense. Even if we already know the end. " The documentary

is broadcast Sunday evening on France 5 at 8:55 p.m.