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NOAH MEDIA GROUP & FEDERATION ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT:
“ARSENE WENGER: INVINCIBLE”
THE DEFINITIVE PORTRAIT OF THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE FACE OF ENGLISH FOOTBALL FOREVER
Noah Media Group (UK) & Federation Entertainment (France), in association with Yvette Productions (France), are co-producing the 90’ feature documentary, in partnership with CANAL+ Création Documentaire (France)
Credit: Noah Media Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
London: Monday, October 12th, 2020: Multi-award-winning London-based producers Noah Media Group and acclaimed Paris-based producers Federation Entertainment today announced an English-French co-production for Arsène Wenger: Invincible, the definitive documentary of a footballing pioneer, who changed the landscape of the English Premier League as we know it and achieved the impossible.
Noah Media Group, who have released some of the most acclaimed sports documentaries over the past few years (Bobby Robson: More than a Manager (Netflix), The Edge (Amazon), Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans (Official Cannes Selection, BBC)) and Federation, who are recently responsible for Varane: Destin de Champion (Amazon), & Les Bleus: At the heart of the Russian epic (TF1/Amazon) and are currently producing A Stolen Life (CANAL+ Création Documentaire) by award-winning director Anissa Bonnefont, reveal that the production began shooting in September 2020, and is set for completion in late 2021.
Wenger himself will provide unprecedented insight and access, as British filmmaker Gabriel Clarke (Bobby Robson: More Than A Manager; Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans,) and co-director Christian Jeanpierre, seek to capture the man behind the manager. It will feature key figures from throughout Wenger’s career and interviews with some of the biggest names in world football, as well as from the fabled Gunners’ Invincible side of 2003/4, who to this day remain the only Premier League team to go an entire season unbeaten.
When he arrived in London in 1996 to manage Premier League club Arsenal, ‘Arsène Who?’ was the headline that greeted the Frenchman. His shock appointment brought with it a barrage of scepticism, criticism and even xenophobia from certain sections of the media and supporters. Over the course of the next 22 years ‘Le Professeur’ transformed not just Arsenal but the Premier League, imprinting his name on the history of English football. Wenger became Arsenal’s most successful ever manager, but his vision, values and commitment to his work left a sporting and cultural legacy that would stretch far beyond the pitch.
Spanning the UK, France & Japan, this feature-length documentary will uncover unseen archive, and showcase original, intimate filming with a man who for years remained an enigmatic figure, even to those who played or worked for him.
Wenger himself will narrate his story – divulging his innermost thoughts and key principles as Invincible draws back the veil on the man and what made him.
Arsène Wenger said of today’s announcement: “This documentary highlights a very special period in my life & career. I have total confidence in the team & the production companies. Gabriel & Christian are probably the only directors who could persuade me to do this documentary! I will try to give the best of my memories & my life story!”
Co-director Clarke commented: “It is a privilege to work with Arsène Wenger and Christian Jeanpierre on this project. My friendship with Christian pre-dates even the Wenger era in North London and for some time it has been our ambition to combine on this project. As broadcasters we both covered Arsène’s stunning transformation of English football that peaked with Arsenal’s invincibles of 2004. This documentary will aim to do justice to an achievement that becomes more impressive with each passing season. Thanks to Arsène’s trust and insight, we also aim to reveal the man behind the enigmatic, urbane and driven figure, obsessed with achieving perfection on the football field. Arsène Wenger left an unparalleled legacy to English football and Arsenal fc. Invincible will be this incredible story’s definitive final chapter.”
Co-director Jeanpierre added: “I was lucky enough to follow an exceptional generation of players (Vieira, Henry, Pires, Bergkamp…), led by a coach who achieved something that was not even imaginable! By making this documentary with Gabriel, I aim to make people live this fantastic period all over again.”
NoahX (Noah Media Group’s sales and distribution division) will be co-ordinating a theatrical and transactional release in the UK, as well as international sales, in partnership with Federation Entertainment, ahead of the film becoming available on CANAL+ (France) in early 2022.
Christine Cauquelin, Head of Documentaries, Canal + Group commented: Canal + is delighted to present Wenger, Invincible. Canal + is the official broadcaster of Premier League in France, and this exclusive documentary gives us the opportunity to share the fascinating life story & the extraordinary achievements or Arsène Wenger, told by himself for the first time, with our subscribers who are passionate about soccer.
For further press information, please contact
organic
Tiffany Kizito |E: Tiffany.Kizito@organic-publicity.co.uk
FEDERATION ENTERTAINMENT:
Valérie Tailland |E: valerie.tailland@fedent.com
For sales information contact:
Noah Media Group Head of International Sales, Catherine Quantschnigg – Catherine.quantschnigg@noahmediagroup.com
FEDERATION ENTERTAINMENT, International Sales Manager, Guillaume Pommier – guillaume.pommier@fedent.com
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Gabriel Clarke is a co-founder of Noah Media Group and the award-winning director of Noah’s Cannes Official Selection feature documentary, Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans and Netflix’s Bobby Robson: More than a Manager, as well as the widely anticipated Finding Jack Charlton, which will be released later this year, following the sporting hero’s death earlier this summer. Christian Jeanpierre, a renowned world sports commentator and journalist, has over the course of thirty years interviewed some of the biggest names in football such as Didier Deschamps, Kylian MBappé through to Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane and of course, Wenger.
ABOUT FEDERATION ENTERTAINMENT
With offices in Paris, Los Angeles, Rome and Madrid, Federation Entertainment heralds a new breed of independent European studios, focusing on the creation, production, distribution and marketing of high-quality original productions for the global marketplace.
Created in 2013 and spearheaded by Pascal Breton, Federation is also jointly managed by Co-Founders Lionel Uzan (CEO) and David Michel (CEO & President of Cottonwood Media, overseeing the Kids and Family division) alongside Stéphane Sperry (Co-Founder/Producer) and Serge Hayat (Co-Founder/Strategic Advisor). They were later joined by Thierry Sorel (Head of Fiction), Benoit Lacombe (Group COO), Ashley Stern (Head of Federation Entertainment of America), Patrick Wachsberger (ex-Co-Chairman of Lionsgate Motion Pictures) who Federation joined forces with in 2019 to launch the joint- venture Picture Perfect Federation. Federation has also expanded into the documentary genre with the arrival of documentary producer Myriam Weil in 2019, and the non-scripted following the merger with WeMake, (the company originally created by Bouchra Réjani in 2017).
Federation’s prestigious portfolio features the cult spy thriller The Bureau (50 X 52’) the financial thriller Bad Banks (12 x 52’ – nominated for the International Emmy Awards 2019), Undercover (20 x 52’ – CANNESERIES 2018), The Twelve (10 x 52’ , awarded at CANNESERIES 2019), They Were 10, a modern day adaptation of the Agatha Christie best-seller, Marseille(a Netflix Original Series), Marianne and Baby (now 3 Seasons), Mytho (winner of 2 prizes at Series Mania 2019), Made in Italy, which chronicles the birth of the Italian fashion world of the 70’s, or Amsterdam Vice, Floodland and The Grave (the latest series from Omri Givon). On the documentary side, Les Bleus 2018 – at the heart of the Russian Epic, 4X30’, a smashing hit on TF1 and Amazon Prime-Video, Varane, Destin de Champion, an award-winning 3X30’ docu-series that explores the life and exceptional career of the World Cup champion (Amazon Prime), or A Lifetime Apart, a moving documentary special for CANAL+ and France Televisions… to name a few.
ABOUT NOAH MEDIA GROUP
Noah Media Group are the award-winning production company behind some of the most well received sports feature documentaries in recent years: Bobby Robson: More Than A Manager (winner of 2018’s SJA best TV/Film documentary award), Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans (Official Cannes Selection, 2015) and last summer’s acclaimed cricket documentary, The Edge. Next up will be a portrait of one of football’s most cherished heroes, Finding Jack Charlton, set for release in late 2020 in partnership with BBC & Virgin Media Ireland.
The company brings together a team of award-winners in Film and TV with hugely successful original thinkers from the online and new technology sectors. The company combines creative talent and technical expertise, built on decades of high-end media experience. Noah specialises in feature length and short-form documentary, title sequences, corporate films, promos and digital content, and distributes this through its distribution arm, NoahX.
In 2019, Noah launched its International Sales division with a slate of sports-led titles, reinforcing the company’s growing commitment to showcasing acclaimed sports documentaries at a global level.
The company’s current international sales slate includes 2019 SJA TV/Film Documentary winning Adam Hills: Take His Legs, which charts Australian comedian Adam Hill’s formation of the world’s first physical disability rugby league team; ITV’s Out of Their Skin, the timely history of black British football; Make Us Dream, produced by Oscar® and BAFTA-winner James Gay-Rees and charting the remarkable story of Liverpool & England legend Steven Gerrard; Bleed Out, HBO’s critically-acclaimed documentary investigating medical malpractice in the US; and Daniel Gordon’s feature documentary The Australian Dream, about the Australian Football League legend, Adam Goodes.
Noah Media Group was selected as one of the 2020 Broadcast Best Places to Work in TV.
ABOUT YVETTE PRODUCTION
Based in Paris, Yvette Production was created by Raphaël Uzan in 2016. The company kicked off with LES BLEUS 2018, an outstanding docu-series embedded in the World Cup winning team, coproduced with Federation Entertainment for Amazon and TF1. It was followed by Varane, Destin de champion (2019), also coproduced with Federation Entertainment. Its first drama, award-winning « Si tu vois ma mère » was broadcasted on Arte last spring. Yvette Production is currently developing a slate of premium documentary series for different platforms.
