THE SECRET OF ELISE/ Le Secret d’Elise
North American Premiere • TV Mini-series • Supernatural Drama • France, 2016
Blu-ray • Color • 6 x 52 min • Episodes 1 & 2
Directed by: Alexandre Laurent, Samir Boitard, Mathieu Simonet, Mehdi Meskar
Written by: Elsa Marpeau, Marie Vinoy, Marie Deshaires, Catherine Touzet
Developed by: Stephen Greenhorn (Marchlands), created by David Schulner (The Oaks)
Produced by: Iris Bucher (Quad Television), TF1
Cast: Bruno Bénabar, Julie de Bona, Hélène de Fougerolles.
International Sales: Fox Television
Original Broadcast: TF1, February 2016
On the heels of the hit French series The Returned (2012), TF1 enters the fray with this ambitious supernatural saga that follows the lives of three families in three time periods: 1969, 1986, and 2013. Each family has lived in the same beautiful Provencal house. In 2013, a young couple moves into the house, only to discover that it is already occupied by the ghost of a little girl. In 1986, another family is forced to deal with the daughter’s disturbing friendship with that same mysterious ghost. What were the circumstances of the girl’s death, and is she the only thing that connects these families across time? The Oaks, as it was originally titled, was first developed in America by television writer, David Schulner; the pilot debuted in 2008. The idea reemerged as the British mini-series, Marchlands (2011) before making its way across the channel.