BECOMING KARL LAGERSFELD

TELEVISION COMPETITION
TRUFFAUT THEATRE
Series, Biopic / Drama, Episodes 1 & 2

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30
1:10 pm (Screening ends at 2:40 pm)

Presented in association with:
Disney+

Directed by: Jérôme Salle, Audrey Estrougo
Created by: Isaure Pisani-Ferry, Jennifer Have
Written by: Isaure Pisani-Ferry, Jennifer Have, Dominique Baumard, Nathalie Hertzberg
Based on the Book by: Raphaëlle Bacqué
Produced by: Isabelle Degeorges, Arnaud de Crémiers (Gaumont), Jérôme Salle
Cinematography: Mahdi Lepart, Mélodie Preel
Film Editing: Stan Collet, Céline Cloarec, Valérie Deseine, Grégoire Sivan
Original Score: Sacha Galperine, Evgeni Galperine
Cast: Daniel Brühl (Karl Lagerfeld), Alex Lutz (Pierre Bergé), Théodore Pellerin (Jacques de Bascher), Arnaud Valois (Yves Saint Laurent), Agnès Jaoui (Gaby Aghion), Sunnyi Melles (Marlene Dietrich), Paul Spera (Andy Warhol), Féodor Atkine (Louis de Bascher), Victoire Dubois (Anne de Bascher), Jeanne Damas (Paloma Picasso), Claire Laffut (Loulou de la Falaise), Julia Faure (Francine Crescent), Lisa Kreuzer (Elisabeth Lagerfeld)
International Distribution: Disney+
Original Broadcast: Disney+, Hulu

Inspired by Le Monde investigative reporter Raphaëlle Bacqué’s biography, Kaiser Karl, Becoming Karl Lagerfeld plunges us into the 1970s, a decade that was key to the legendary fashion designer’s development, both artistically and personally, and long before he created the distinctive persona that became his trademark. At 38, the anonymous ready-to-wear designer meets the great love of his life, Jacques de Bascher, a 21-year-old bourgeois dandy with a penchant for excess and sophisticated insouciance — in stark contrast to Lagerfeld’s buttoned-up workaholic. He also takes on his old friend and arch rival, Yves Saint Laurent, the brilliant haute-couture wunderkind who came to be the “Mozart” to Lagerfeld’s “Salieri”. That clash of egos triggers the evolution of a complex personality, driven by ambition, who would go on to become an icon of Parisian culture and “emperor” of the fashion world.

Creator and show-runner Isaure Pisani-Ferry is a French writer based in Berlin. After studying literature and social sciences, she went on to become a screenwriter for the Canal+ series Kaboul Kitchen (2012-17), and the Netflix series Vampires (2020) and Ganglands (2021). Director and executive producer Jérôme Salle wrote screenplays for several shorts and TV movies, before venturing into directing. His feature directorial debut was Anthony Zimmer (2005), which premiered in Cannes, was nominated for a César Award for Best First Film, and its script was adapted by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck for his 2010 film The Tourist. Salle’s subsequent directorial credits include The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch (2008), Largo Winch II (2011), Zulu (2013), The Odyssey (COLCOA 2017), two episodes of the series Totems (2021-22), and Kompromat (2022).