Xavier Boissel, "Paris Mirage"

PARIS MIRAGE (2013, 39'00")

During WWI, to deceive the German air force, the French General Staff decided to build a fake Paris in the Parisian suburbs. The writer Xavier Boissel, author of "Paris is an illusion" unveils this incredible adventure, which was a pioneer in the art of camouflage, simulacra and simulation.

Has the fake Paris ever existed or was it simply a hoax? Is the real Paris a fiction and the City of Light an electrical fairy tale? From the Paris of Haussmann to the Exposition Universelle of 1900, from Paris-Beaches to "museumification", the plot of the fake Paris immerses us into a stunningly hypermodern world.

** Courtesy éditions Inculte