Nilaya Productions

Nilaya Productions is an independent French television production company headed by Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, who previously spent sixteen years in charge of the documentary units at the France Télévisions group. The company has been active since 2011 and is based in France, producing programmes for French broadcasters and international partners. Its stated mission is to explore in depth the issues at the heart of contemporary societies and history, giving original writing its place and trusting the public's intelligence. The company's output spans archive-based documentaries, docu-fictions, works of history, immersive films and investigations. Its catalogue includes titles such as "Who Does the Housework?" written and directed by Safaa Aboufares; "In the Name of God, the St. Bartholomew's Massacre Unveiled"; the three-part documentary series "Latin America, So Far from God, So Close to the United States" by Delphine Jaudeau and Jean-Baptiste Péretié; "Henry de Monfreid, the Adventurer of the Red Sea" written and directed by Valérie Manns; and "Red Shadow over the White House" written and directed by Antoine Vitkine. Current productions listed by the company include "The Winton Mission" (History), "The Antidepressant Age" (Science/Social issues), "Surviving the Black Death" (Drama/History), "Élysée – Matignon: For Better or for Worse" (Current affairs/History) and "In the Name of Lost Children" (History/Portrait). Nilaya's films are broadcast on all French channels and internationally, with partners including Curiosity Stream, Nat Geo, YLE, DR, RTS, SVT, ZDF, RTBF, ARTV, NHK and CCTV9. Realscreen Magazine rated Nilaya one of the 100 most influential producers. In recent years the company has expanded into fiction for television and cinema, producing "The Story of Annette Zelman" written by Emmanuel Salinger and directed by Philippe Le Guay for France 2, which won the Prix Adami du Meilleur Espoir Masculin at the Fiction Film Festival in La Rochelle. In 2017 it produced Amos Gitaï's film "West of the Jourdain River," selected for the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight, and in 2019 the TV movie "Murder at Pont-l'Evêque," which drew 5 million viewers on France 3. As of 2021 the company was developing TV movies and series. Nilaya Productions operates as a private, independent production company rather than a listed public entity. Its positioning rests on ambitious, groundbreaking factually inspired programmes designed to be accessible to the widest possible viewing public, combining historical depth with contemporary relevance.

Nilaya Productions was created in 2011 by Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, who had spent the previous sixteen years in charge of the different documentary units at the France Télévisions group. During that period she initiated a great number of documentary slots still on the air and developed a policy of prime-time events on France 2 and France 3, including "Apocalypse," sold internationally, the highly successful prime-time programme "Rendez-vous en terre inconnue," acclaimed as the French favourite show, and the weekly documentary slot "Infrarouge." She also coproduced a number of projects. Building on that background, Nilaya established itself as an independent production company focused on ambitious, groundbreaking factually inspired programmes accessible to the widest viewing public. Its films are marked by a desire to explore in depth the issues at the heart of societies and history, to give original writing its place and to trust the public's intelligence. The catalogue ranges from archive-based documentaries to docu-fictions, from works of history to immersive films and investigations. Over the years Nilaya's films have been broadcast on all French channels and internationally, with partners including Curiosity Stream, Nat Geo, YLE, DR, RTS, SVT, ZDF, RTBF, ARTV, NHK and CCTV9. Realscreen Magazine rated Nilaya one of the 100 most influential producers. In 2017 the company produced Amos Gitaï's film "West of the Jourdain River," which was selected for the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight. In 2019 it produced the TV movie "Murder at Pont-l'Evêque," which gathered 5 million viewers on France 3. For the past four years, as stated on its website, the company has been turning towards fiction for television and cinema. It produced "The Story of Annette Zelman," written by Emmanuel Salinger and directed by Philippe Le Guay, for France 2; the film won the Prix Adami du Meilleur Espoir Masculin at the Fiction Film Festival in La Rochelle. As of 2021, Nilaya was developing TV movies and series. Recent and current productions include "Who Does the Housework?" written and directed by Safaa Aboufares; "In the Name of God, the St. Bartholomew's Massacre Unveiled"; the three-part documentary series "Latin America, So Far from God, So Close to the United States" by Delphine Jaudeau and Jean-Baptiste Péretié; "Henry de Monfreid, the Adventurer of the Red Sea" written and directed by Valérie Manns; and "Red Shadow over the White House" written and directed by Antoine Vitkine. Current productions listed by the company include "The Winton Mission" (History), "The Antidepressant Age" (Science/Social issues), "Surviving the Black Death" (Drama/History), "Élysée – Matignon: For Better or for Worse" (Current affairs/History) and "In the Name of Lost Children" (History/Portrait). In January 2026, the documentary series "Latin America, So Far from God, So Close to the United States" was selected for official competition at FIPADOC, and "In the Name of God, the St. Bartholomew's Massacre Unveiled" was nominated for the Lauriers de l'Audiovisuel. The film "Sophie Lavaud, The Last Summit," directed by François Damilano, won its 10th festival award.

• 2026

  Documentary series "Latin America, So Far from God, So Close to the United States" selected for official competition at FIPADOC; "In the Name of God, the St. Bartholomew's Massacre Unveiled" nominated for the Lauriers de l'Audiovisuel.

• 2021

  Developing TV movies and series; produced "The Story of Annette Zelman" for France 2.

• 2019

  Produced the TV movie "Murder at Pont-l'Evêque," which gathered 5 million viewers on France 3.

• 2017

  Produced Amos Gitaï's film "West of the Jourdain River," selected for the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight.

• 2011

  Nilaya Productions founded by Patricia Boutinard Rouelle, former Head of Documentaries at France Télévisions.

Independent French producer of ambitious, groundbreaking factually inspired programmes accessible to the widest possible viewing public, spanning archive documentaries, docu-fictions, history, immersive films, investigations and, increasingly, television and cinema fiction.

Product categories. Documentary films · Documentary series · Docu-fictions · Historical programmes · Investigative films · TV movies · Fiction series

1. 1Nilaya Productions – Producing is an experience of creation and sharingnilaya.fr
2. 2About Us – Nilaya Productionsnilaya.fr
3. 3Nilaya Productions – Wikidatawikidata.org