Stories from the set

Director, screenwriter and producer François Ozon personally visited Catherine Camus, daughter of Albert Camus (1913-1960, philosopher, journalist, writer, publicist, credited as one of the screenwriters), who inherited the rights to all her father's works, and acquainted her with his vision for the future film. Ozon was very pleased that he was able to convince Camus and obtain permission to film, whereas others, more renowned directors, had not succeeded in this.

At one point, François Ozon was working on a film project consisting of three novellas. One of them told the story of a man who had become disillusioned with life and set no life goals for himself. He was to be played by Benjamin Voisin. The project fell through, but friends advised Ozon not to abandon it. Shortly afterward, he reread Albert Camus's novel The Stranger (1942) and decided to adapt it for the screen, so the story of the character from the unrealized project, whom Voisin was to play there, came in very handy. In Ozon's film, that actor played Meursault.