La Prisonnière de Bordeaux airs on Arte despite production challenges

Patricia Mazuy’s drama La Prisonnière de Bordeaux, starring Isabelle Huppert and Hafsia Herzi, was broadcast on Arte on 5 August 2026 at 21:00. The film, selected for Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2024, depicts two women who meet in a prison visiting room and form a deep friendship.

The production, filmed from 16 October to 2 December 2023, faced a compressed schedule, adverse weather and the inability to shoot inside the deteriorated Bordeaux prison. Mazuy recreated interior sets in a studio near Mont‑de‑Marsan and filmed exterior shots under tight conditions, describing the shoot as “complicated”. The TV guide for 5 August also highlighted the film alongside other Arte and TF1 programmes.