AU CŒUR DE PARIS
Sleeping, Breathing, and Filming Inside Paris: My Month Inside 95 Rue de Sèvres for Au Cœur de Paris
I am genuinely happy to finally share what my team and I have been working on over the last 5 months. For this film, the historic Mother House of the Congregation of the Mission at 95 Rue de Sèvres, in the heart of Paris, opened its doors to us in a way few outsiders ever get to experience. In Au Cœur de Paris, I wanted to take the audience inside the living world of Saint Vincent de Paul: from his extraordinary human and spiritual journey to the founding of the Congregation, and finally to the community that, four centuries later, continues his vocation of charity, hospitality, and service to the poor. We made the film to mark the 400th anniversary of the Congregation of the Mission. But more than the story of a place, this is the story of a mission born four centuries ago that is still alive — and still reaching people across the world today. You can watch Au Cœur de Paris here:
But there is something else that makes this film profoundly personal to me. The Congregation gave me something that no production budget could ever buy: they invited me to live inside the Mother House for an entire month. I didn't simply arrive with a camera crew, shoot a few interviews, and leave. I lived there. I slept under that roof, walked those corridors every day, shared meals and moments with the community, and gradually began to understand the rhythm of a place where four centuries of history are not simply remembered, they are still lived. That month changed the film. And it changed the way I saw the Maison Mère. It gave me the chance to tell this story from the inside, with a closeness and intimacy that simply could not have been staged. For that extraordinary trust, I am deeply grateful. And wherever this film may travel from here, I know that the month I spent at 95 Rue de Sèvres will remain one of those rare experiences I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
The Team People Behind It
This documentary was a true team effort, and I couldn't have brought this vision to life without this amazing group of people:
- Executive Producer: Fr. Mark Pranaitis, CM
- Written and Directed by: Manuel de Teffé
- Original Music Composed and Produced by: Gabriele Croci
- Historical Consultants: Fr. Roberto Gomez, CM & Sr. Magdalena Harbu, Daughter of Charity
- Edited by: Thomas Kervinio
- Produced by: Manuel de Teffé