Hugo Selignac’s Chi-Fou-Mi Productions is set to make a feature film about the life of late celebrity chef Bernard Loiseau, who partly inspired the character of chef Auguste Gusteau in “Ratatouille.”
The untitled film will be written and directed by Thomas Lilti, the Cesar-nominated French director of the hit Canal+ series “Hippocrate,” which was initially a film and played at Cannes’ Critics Week. Lilti also directed a raft of popular French films including “The Country Doctor,” “First Year” and “A Real Job.”
Chi-Fou-Mi, a Mediawan banner, is producing the untitled feature with 31 Juin Films, in partnership with Loiseau’s family.
Loiseau was one of France’s most famous chefs in the 1980s and ’90s, credited for elevating French culture on the international stage and turning his Burgundy village of Saulieu into a world-renowned gastronomic destination. His restaurant, La Côte d’Or, received its third Michelin star in 1991. A pioneering businessman, Loiseau also became the first celebrity chef to have his restaurant listed the stock exchange. But despite all his achievements, Loiseau, who suffered from depression, died by suicide at age 52 in 2003.
“Since the beginning of my career, I have sought to portray work and to tell the stories of men and
women confronting their vocation,” Lilti said in a statement. “With Bernard Loiseau, that question becomes even more intimate and that is what moves me so deeply about his story. Exploring his life means speaking about excellence, work, doubt, legitimacy and solitude.”
He continued, “It means trying to understand genius — in all its visionary power, but also in its deeply destructive dimension. By immersing myself, almost frantically, in his life and work, I am discovering a man who was deeply loved and deeply loving, whose tragic end reveals fractures that perhaps only fiction can truly approach.”
Bérangère Loiseau, chairwoman of Groupe Bernard Loiseau, said: “We are deeply moved that Thomas Lilti has shown such sensitivity to Bernard Loiseau’s story. Much like medicine, gastronomy is a passion that calls for complete dedication in the service of others and their happiness. The pursuit of excellence is constant: every gesture, every detail matters. That is exactly what drove Bernard Loiseau — love for others and for work well done.”
Chi-Fou-Mi will be at this year’s Cannes Film Festival with three films, including Jeanne Herry’s “Garance” in competition and Quentin Dupieux’s “Full Phil” starring Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson.
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