Nocturnes Productions

Nocturnes Productions is a French film production company established in 2007 by filmmakers Olivier Bohler and Raphaël Millet. Its work is centered mainly on documentary production, particularly films examining cinema, filmmakers, film history, and the cultural journeys associated with moving images. The company has also produced fiction shorts and commissioned or corporate films for cultural institutions and international film organizations. A defining feature of the company’s catalogue is its interest in cinematic memory. Several productions revisit influential directors, actors, movements, and historical episodes through archival research, interviews, location work, and critical commentary. Code Name Melville, directed by Olivier Bohler, examines Jean-Pierre Melville and the historical and artistic context surrounding his work. Other projects focus on figures including Pierre Schoendoerffer, André S. Labarthe, Jean-Luc Godard, Gaston Méliès, Edgar Morin, Charlie Chaplin, and Henri Matisse’s relationship with light and visual culture. This gives the company a recognizable editorial profile without limiting it to a single documentary format. The company’s productions have varied considerably in duration and format. Its catalogue includes feature-length documentaries, television-length films, shorter cultural documentaries, and a short fiction film. The works concerning Gaston Méliès and his travels demonstrate an interest in the international circulation of cinema and in the relationship between filmmaking, travel, colonial-era encounters, and cultural exchange. Chaplin in Bali similarly connects film history with a particular geographic and cultural setting, while The Voyages of Matisse, Chasing Light extends the company’s visual and biographical interests beyond cinema itself. Nocturnes Productions has also worked through collaborations and commissioned projects. November, directed by Abel Davoine, was produced in coproduction with the Swiss companies Traces and Imagia. The company made Magic of Cinema for the Dubai International Film Festival and Baba Bling for Singapore’s National Heritage Board, indicating an ability to develop audiovisual projects for cultural and institutional partners outside France. Its short-film activity includes Halfway There, directed by Arnaud Bénoliel. The company’s films have circulated in international cultural and festival contexts. Code Name Melville received its world premiere at the 2008 Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei. The available record documents a catalogue extending from 2008 through U-96, the True Story of Das Boot in 2022. Publicly available information does not establish the company’s current ownership, employee structure, headquarters, listing status, or activity after that period. Nocturnes Productions is therefore best described as a French independent production brand with a documentary-led catalogue and an international orientation, while its present operational status remains unconfirmed.

Nocturnes Productions was founded in France in 2007 by Olivier Bohler and Raphaël Millet. From its earliest documented productions, the company developed a profile around films about cinema and filmmakers rather than general commercial entertainment. Its first listed production, Code Name Melville, directed by Bohler, was completed in 2008 and had its world premiere at the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei that year. The film established the company’s interest in examining major figures and traditions in film history through documentary form. The company expanded its catalogue in 2010 with November, a 101-minute documentary directed by Abel Davoine and made in coproduction with the Swiss companies Traces and Imagia. In 2011, it produced several projects connected with French film culture: Pierre Schoendoerffer, the Sentinel of Memory, directed by Millet; André S. Labarthe, From the Cat to the Hat, directed by Céline Gailleurd and Bohler; Melville-Delon: Of Honor and Night, directed by Bohler; and the short film Halfway There, directed by Arnaud Bénoliel. These projects show the breadth of the company’s output, ranging from portraits and critical studies to actor-director relationships and short fiction. The 2012 documentary Jean-Luc Godard, Disorder Exposed, again directed by Gailleurd and Bohler, continued the company’s focus on influential French filmmakers. From 2014 onward, Nocturnes Productions broadened its geographical and thematic scope. The Cinematographic Voyage of Gaston Méliès to Tahiti, directed by Millet, explored the travels of the early filmmaker Gaston Méliès. The same year, Edgar Morin: Chronicle of a Gaze, directed by Gailleurd and Bohler, examined the intellectual and visual perspective of the French sociologist and philosopher Edgar Morin. In 2015, the Gaston Méliès project was represented by a longer related documentary, Gaston Méliès and His Wandering Star Film Company, also directed by Millet. The film’s subject reflects the production company’s recurring interest in the movement of cinema across borders and in the way film history is shaped by travel, technology, cultural contact, and changing media environments. The company subsequently produced Chaplin in Bali, directed by Millet and available in both 52-minute and 80-minute versions. It also worked beyond strictly cinema-centered subjects. The Voyages of Matisse, Chasing Light, released in 2020, followed the relationship between Henri Matisse, travel, and light. In 2022, Millet directed U-96, the True Story of Das Boot, another documentary connected with the history and cultural afterlife of a significant film work. Alongside its documentary catalogue, Nocturnes Productions has produced institutional and corporate films. Magic of Cinema was made for the Dubai International Film Festival, while Baba Bling was produced for Singapore’s National Heritage Board. These commissions indicate that the company has served cultural organizations and international partners as well as conventional film and television audiences. The available public record does not provide confirmed information about later releases, current management, ownership, headquarters, financial performance, or whether the company remains active. Its documented history nevertheless presents Nocturnes Productions as a small, independent French producer whose work combines film-history documentaries, cultural portraits, short-form filmmaking, and commissioned audiovisual projects.

• 2022

  U-96, the True Story of Das Boot

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Raphaël Millet directed the latest dated production listed in the reference material, with 52-minute and 70-minute versions.

• 2017

  Chaplin in Bali

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Raphaël Millet’s Chaplin in Bali was produced in both 52-minute and 80-minute versions.

• 2014

  Gaston Méliès and Edgar Morin projects

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  The company released documentaries about Gaston Méliès’s journey to Tahiti and Edgar Morin’s intellectual and visual perspective.

• 2012

  Jean-Luc Godard documentary

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Nocturnes Productions produced Jean-Luc Godard, Disorder Exposed, directed by Céline Gailleurd and Olivier Bohler.

• 2011

  Expansion of filmmaker-focused catalogue

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  The company released several projects concerning Pierre Schoendoerffer, André S. Labarthe, Jean-Pierre Melville, and Alain Delon, as well as the short film Halfway There.

• 2010

  First documented Swiss coproduction

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  November, directed by Abel Davoine, was produced with the Swiss companies Traces and Imagia.

• 2008

  Code Name Melville premieres

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  The company produced Olivier Bohler’s documentary Code Name Melville, which received its world premiere at the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei.

• 2007

  Company founded

  [1]Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org

  Nocturnes Productions was established in France by Olivier Bohler and Raphaël Millet.

An independent French production company with a documentary-led identity, specializing in cinema history, filmmaker portraits, cultural biography, and institutionally commissioned audiovisual work.

• Documentary film · 2008

  Code Name Melville

  Directed by Olivier Bohler, this 76-minute documentary examines Jean-Pierre Melville and the historical, artistic, and cinematic context associated with his work. It was the company’s earliest documented production and received its world premiere at the 2008 Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei.

• Documentary film · 2010

  November

  A 101-minute documentary directed by Abel Davoine and produced in cooperation with the Swiss companies Traces and Imagia. The film represents Nocturnes Productions’ early use of international coproduction to develop feature-length documentary work.

• Filmmaker documentary · 2011

  Pierre Schoendoerffer, the Sentinel of Memory

  Directed by Raphaël Millet, this 60-minute documentary focuses on filmmaker and writer Pierre Schoendoerffer. It fits the company’s recurring practice of using documentary to preserve and interpret the memories, methods, and historical perspective of major figures in cinema.

• Filmmaker documentary · 2012

  Jean-Luc Godard, Disorder Exposed

  A 64-minute documentary directed by Céline Gailleurd and Olivier Bohler. The film addresses Jean-Luc Godard and his place within modern cinema, reinforcing the company’s emphasis on director-centered and critical film-history documentaries.

• Film-history documentary · 2015

  Gaston Méliès and His Wandering Star Film Company

  Directed by Raphaël Millet, this 60-minute documentary traces Gaston Méliès’s filmmaking journeys through the South Seas and East Asia. It explores cinema as a traveling enterprise and connects early film production with geography, mobility, and cultural encounter.

• Cultural documentary · 2017

  Chaplin in Bali

  Raphaël Millet’s documentary links Charlie Chaplin and Bali, combining film history with a specific cultural and geographic setting. The production exists in 52-minute and 80-minute versions, allowing it to serve different broadcast or exhibition formats.

• Arts documentary · 2020

  The Voyages of Matisse, Chasing Light

  Directed by Raphaël Millet, this 52-minute documentary extends the company’s cultural-biographical approach beyond cinema. It examines Henri Matisse’s journeys and his pursuit of light as an artistic subject and visual experience.

• Film-history documentary · 2022

  U-96, the True Story of Das Boot

  Directed by Raphaël Millet, this documentary investigates the real-world and historical background associated with Das Boot. The listed versions run 52 and 70 minutes, reflecting the company’s continued production of television-length cultural documentaries.

• Short film · 2011

  Halfway There

  A 22-minute, 31-second short film directed by Arnaud Bénoliel. Also known by its original French title, À Mi-chemin, it demonstrates that the company’s activities have included narrative short-form production alongside documentary filmmaking.

• Institutional film

  Magic of Cinema

  An institutional or corporate film produced for the Dubai International Film Festival. The project illustrates Nocturnes Productions’ work for cultural organizations and its ability to adapt audiovisual production to commissioned promotional or institutional purposes.

• Institutional film

  Baba Bling

  A commissioned film made for Singapore’s National Heritage Board. It broadens the company’s profile beyond independent documentary releases into cultural-institutional filmmaking for an international heritage organization.

1. 1Nocturnes Productionsen.wikipedia.org