Paris-based Lincoln TV is set to reunite with the creative team behind “Mirage” on a period series about the turbulent life of Sylvia Kristel, the 1970’s sex symbol and star of the erotic film trilogy “Emmanuelle.”
Titled “Sylvia,” the six-part series will be based on Kristel’s 2006 autobiography “Nue” (“Naked”), in which the late actress chronicles her rise and tragic downfall.
Currently at the script stage, the series is being created and penned by Bénédicte Charles and Olivier Pouponneau, who previously wrote “Mirage” with Franck Philippon. Lincoln TV, the well-established banner founded by veteran producers Christine de Bourbon-Busset and Marc Missonnier, has acquired the audiovisual rights to Kristel’s autobiography from the publishing house Cherche-Midi.
The project is currently being shopped to key French channels and Lincoln TV is aiming to partner up with a Flemish co-producer.
“We think the story of Sylvia will strike a chord in the post-MeToo era. Sylvia was sexually abused during her childhood and went from being an unknown 20-year-old actress to becoming an international emblem for the sexual revolution in the 1970’s,” said Missonnier, adding that the series will show that actual revolution didn’t really help women break free from being objectified by men.
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“Sylvia had a brilliant mind but she was also vulnerable in spite of her confident aura and sex symbol status; she ended up being manipulated by men, especially in her private life, and suffered from addiction,” said de Bourbon-Busset.
Set mostly in France, the series will chart Sylvia’s journey with an emphasis on the decade during which she starred in “Emmanuelle” and explain “how her encounter in 1979 with a man who became her husband tragically led her on a downward path,” said de Bourbon-Busset, who added that the narrative arch will be built in a way similar to Judy Garland biopic “Judy.”
“Sylvia” will also take place in the Netherlands and in California, where Kristel lived for some time with her ex-husband, who was also an actor. As such, the series will shoot in French with some English and Dutch.
Lincoln TV will also look to give the show a well-polished look. “We’ll be aiming to recreate the glamour and sexiness of the ’70s and ’80s and we will also show some of the most iconic scenes of ‘Emmanuelle,”” said Missonnier. The classic erotic movie will available on Netflix from July 1.
Born in the Netherlands, Kristel started working as a model before she made it as an actress. After the success of “Emmanuelle,” which remains one of the highest-grossing French films of all time, she starred in Claude Chabrol’s “Alice or the Last Runaway,” as well as “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and in “Mata Hari.” By the time she penned her autobiography, Kristel was a painter, living modestly in her hometown in the Netherlands. She died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 60.
Besides “Mirage,” Lincoln TV’s track record also includes the successful French series “Cheyenne et Lola” and “Mental.”