France’s TF1 & Belgium’s RTBF link for ‘Les Disparus De La Forêt Noire’

Les Disparus De La Forêt Noire

France’s TF1 has partnered with Belgium’s RTBF and Banijay on a Black Forest-set crime drama set over three decades.

Les Disparus De La Forêt Noire is being produced by Banijay Studios France, Fiction’Air and Belga Productions, with sales overseen by Banijay Rights.

The story is set in the heart of the Black Forest, at a binational military base near the French-German border, where 12 bodies belonging to men from both countries are found. The show then tracks how the discovery jogs a retired judge’s memory and explores her true connection to the case.

Hélène de Fougerolles (Balthazar) and Gregory Fitoussi (Spiral) star, while Carole Della Valle is executive producer at Banijay Studios France and described the show as “a tense and gripping thriller.”

Banijay France is led by François de Brugada and houses scripted labels including Marathon, Shine Fiction, Terence and Marie Antoinette prodco, Banijay Studios France.

In related news, fellow Banijay firm Yellow Bird UK has secured rights to Alex Schulman’s novel, The Survivors, with plans to adapt it into a feature film. The adaptation will be written and directed by Swedish actor Gustaf Skarsgård (Vikings, Westworld).

The book traces the journey of three brothers, Pierre, Nils and Benjamin to the lakeside cottage where they spent formative summers as children and where, over two decades before, a catastrophe changed the course of their lives.