Netflix announces launch date for new series on killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier
The family of Sophie Toscan du Plantier has taken part in the new new Netflix documentary series.
The makers of a new documentary series on the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier say they hope they have made a series that its subject would be satisfied with as they confirm it will be available on Netflix next month.
Sophie: A Murder in West Cork will stream from June 30 and examines one of Ireland’s most infamous murders, which took place in December 1996. The three-part series was made with the blessing of the du Plantier family.
“The project became something that we really wanted to get involved in when we met Sophie's family and gained their trust,” says executive producer Simon Chinn, also behind acclaimed documentaries Searching for Sugarman and Man on Wire.
“At that point we felt that we had a purpose. They hoped to place Sophie, the victim, at the centre of the story. That was our assurance to them. It was an easy assurance because it aligned very much with our instincts. That's the thing that will be distinctive about our telling of this story: our treatment of Sophie in it and our treatment of the family and their role in trying to pursue justice for Sophie.”
Directed by John Dower, the series was filmed in West Cork and in France and contributors include du Plantier’s son Pierre-Louis Baudey and residents from Schull, as well as Ian Bailey, who was found guilty by a French court of Du Plantier's murder. Bailey has always denied any role in Du Plantier's death, and was never charged in Ireland in relation to the killing.
It is one of a number of documentaries being released about the murder, including Sky’s five-part series directed by Jim Sheridan and an upcoming television adaptation of the popular West Cork podcast.
Executive producer Suzanne Lavery says it is an “enormous privilege” to be trusted by the du Plantier family to tell their story.
“They went out of their way to speak to us, at times we didn't quite expect to get the level of access that we did. They haven't held anything back. They passed it to us and said, ‘We trust you. Tell Sophie’s story’,” Lavery says.
“They gave us access to the family archive, all the family photos and stories. We all really felt like we got close to knowing who Sophie was as a person in the production process. We're incredibly grateful to them. It’s a real responsibility on us to do the job right."
Lavery says the project felt personal to her and producer Sarah Lambert.
“As female documentary makers, we wanted to make the best possible film for Sophie. We're aware that we share a profession and share common interests with her. I think the exercise of trying to tell Sophie's story in a way that Sophie herself would have appreciated is something that's important to her family.”
Chinn says they were struck by the remarkable setting and circumstances of the murder.
“It is at one level a fascinating story about a murder that is as yet unresolved. But there's also something about the unusual context in which it took place, in this beautiful, remote Irish idyll to which this French woman from Parisian high society could retreat,” he says.
“Part of the reason she retreated there was because it was beautiful and apparently safe. There's something about that region in Ireland, a combustible mix, in her case, of characters and nationalities and cultures that led to her tragic fate.
“There is very much a French, Irish, and English nexus around which this story takes place and ultimately becomes the clash between not just two cultures but two justice systems.”
- Sophie: A Murder in West Cork will be available to watch on Netflix from June 30.
