After dissecting the two World Wars, the Cold War, and the fates of Hitler and Stalin, the renowned historical documentary series Apocalypse is turning its attention to a new era. Production company Mediawan announced on Tuesday, June 16th, a new season entitled Apocalypse Civilizations: Rome, which will air on France Télévisions. The film will focus on the Battle of Actium, which in 31 BC pitted Mark Antony against Octavian, Caesar's adopted son. This naval battle, one of the most pivotal in history, gave rise to a new political order in the West and marked the turning point that led to the rise of the Roman Empire, at a time when Rome already dominated a large part of Europe.
A historic first for the franchise: recreating all the images
To bring Antiquity to life, the series is taking an unprecedented technical leap. "Thanks to the unique combination of historical research and artificial intelligence, the film resurrects Antiquity with an unprecedented level of realism," explains Mediawan in its press release, specifying that the program will rely on AI to "recreate the illusion of original archival footage." This is a necessity dictated by the era it depicts: it's the first time that Apocalypse has had to reconstruct all of its images, due to the lack of available photographic or film archives, unlike what was the case for 20th-century conflicts. Launched in 2009, the franchise already boasts 33 films across 11 seasons and claims to have been broadcast in 165 countries to over 100 million viewers, according to Mediawan. This new Roman chapter also takes place in a particular context: Daniel Costelle, documentary filmmaker and director of the previous films in the series, passed away in early June at the age of 90. He had founded the company CC&C with Isabelle Clarke, the collection's long-time producer.
Community
Comments
Comments are open, but protected against spam. Initial posts and comments containing links undergo manual review.
Be the first to comment on this article.