’The First Art School in History,’ a Prehistoric Cave You Can Visit in 3D, Explored in Newen Connect’s ‘Master Sapiens’ (EXCLUSIVE)
French distribution company Newen Connect is bringing their latest non-fiction series to the London TV Screenings. “Master Sapiens” is a dive into the Lascaux Cave, considered by experts to be the first art school in history. The series is available as one 52′ documentary or two 45′ episodes, produced by Pernel Media, with C8 / Planète + holding broadcasting rights in France.
“Master Sapiens” director Nathalie Laville, a documentary filmmaker specialised in archaeology, first thought the project to be impossible since the Lascaux Cave has been closed for visitation to the public since becoming a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1963. Speaking with Variety ahead of the London TV Screenings, Laville recalls how a key discovery made the series viable.
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“I was worried because I knew the cave had been closed to the public and scientists but, as I dug in, I realised there was now a state-of-the-art 3D clone of the cave. It comprised the complete cave, replicated digitally with millimetric precision, so we were able to see not only the environment inside the cave but also the tiny details of the engravings.”
The team behind “Master Sapiens” managed to negotiate full access to the data gathered by the 3D software and use it in full in the series to allow audiences inside restricted areas of the French cave for the first time in six decades. “We were able to move within the cave as a bird, in the way we wanted, at the speed we wanted. This put our investigation up-to-date,” added Laville.
On top of the 3D roamings inside the cave, “Master Sapiens” also employs animation, archival material, reenactments with professional actors and testimonials with a wide range of specialists to tell the story of homo sapiens living 21,000 years ago.
Speaking of weaving in several different narrative techniques, the director said: “We wanted to make an archaeological documentary but we didn’t want it to be as rigid as they usually are. Normally, when you make an archaeological documentary, you have to talk in-depth about science and it’s hard to make it human. The dialogue-free reenactments, the animation, the 3D work were all used in a way to relate to the human side of the story.”
Laville not only directs “Master Sapiens” alongside Jacques Plaisant but is also a writer in the series and was closely involved in the editing process. This hands-on approach to several stages of the production allowed the director to have a full understanding of not only the format of the series, but its main objectives when connecting with audiences.
“Our main goal with ‘Master Sapiens’ is for the viewers to understand these were incredible artists who have the same cognitive abilities we have today. They had the same need to communicate through art in a time without frontiers and nationalities. It’s good to remember that, at one point, we were all just one species who needed to make art to transcend ourselves.”
The importance of the message at hand is highlighted by the director when commenting on her hopes ahead of the presentation of one of the episodes to international buyers, with rights available worldwide. “Sometimes it can be disappointing when you make a documentary with so many people involved and it is broadcast five times at most and then nobody can see it. I would like ‘Master Sapiens’ to get a chance to meet its audience, both in France and internationally.”
Newen Connect is also showcasing fiction series at the London TV Screenings such as “8 Months” and “In The Shadows,” both bound for Series Mania.
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