Branded film 5:43
Client: GUERLAIN
Director: BRUNO AVEILLAN
Production: QUAD
VFX: DIGITAL DISTRICT www.digital-district.fr
Martin Coulais, EP at Quad in Paris: "'La Légende de Shalimar' tells the 17th century love story of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife, Mumtaz Mahal - the tale that first inspired Jacques Guerlain to create his best-selling Shalimar perfume in 1925. According to legend, Shah Jahan, devastated by his wife's passing, built the Taj Mahal in memory of their undying love.
"Shot on location in India, Aveillan evokes the odyssey of the devoted emperor traveling to his princess, played by Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova. Close-ups of the ethereal beauty as she waits in the lavish palace are interspersed with aerial shots of pure majesty: elephants and horses; untouched landscapes; and ornate architecture creating hillside mosaics. The passion driving the lovers to their sensual reunion is intensified by the accompaniment of Hans Zimmer's sweeping violin score. Aveillan's retelling ends with a vision of Vodianova standing alone on a small flat-bottomed boat, as the domed palace slowly springs from the still waters and its wonder emerges before our eyes.
"Bruno Aveillan, who is represented by Quad in Europe and Believe Media in the US, is renowned for his unique visual voice -- a blend of innate artistry and meticulous attention to detail that translates into superbly arresting images. With 'La Légende de Shalimar', Aveillan conjures the inspiration behind the Shalimar fragrance with a visual poem as transcendent as the legendary romance itself."
For Guerlain
President: Laurent Boillot
Artistic director: Benjamin De Lapparent
International marketing director: Margerie Barbès-Petit
Fragrance marketing director: Ann-Caroline Prazan
Advertising production director: Jeannine Burglé
For Quad
Director: Bruno Aveillan
EP: Martin Coulais
Line producer: Claudia Traeger
DOP: Patrick Duroux
1st AD: Bettina Godi
SFX supervisor on-set: Jean Pierre Grandet
Production assistant: Clémence Lhuilier
For Adfilm-Valas
Producer: Kunal Kapor
Line producer: Shetty Prabhakar
For Digital District
Post producer: Nataly Aveillan
Color: MPC London
Colorist: Jean-Clément Soret