

A president's 32-year secret love, told in his own forbidden words.
In the summer of 1963, François Mitterrand was going through a deep existential crisis. His political career was at a standstill and, after 19 years of marriage, the couple had grown apart. It was at this point that François Mitterrand met the woman who was to give new meaning to his life. Anne Pingeot, aged 19, was to become the companion of a lifetime, a woman who would be with him throughout his rise to power and who would remain by his side until his last breath. For the first time, Anne Pingeot has agreed to allow the fragments of this passionate love story — hundreds of letters and a diary — to be shown on television, before being donated to the National Library.
Production
Unprecedented access to 600+ private letters and diary.
Editing
Elegant weaving of archive footage with intimate voiceover.
Director
Yvan Gaillard
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'French exception' around politicians' private lives—this documentary helped crack that wall.
Mitterrand installed Anne in a state-owned apartment 500 meters from the Élysée Palace; the French press knew but maintained silence until his 1994 biography.
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