Order of The Occult -
The secrets of the Order of the Solar Temple sect
4x52 min | Pierre MORATH et Éric LEMASSON | 2023
In co-production with POINT PROD and LES PRODUCTIONS DU MOMENT
With the participation of PLANÈTE+ CRIME, RTS and SRG SSR
With the support of CNC, PROCIREP and ANGOA
With the participation of CINÉFOROM
and the suport of LOTERIE ROMANDE
With the participation of FONDS DE PRODUCTION TÉLÉVISUELLE
The Solar Temple tragedy - 74 deaths between 1994 and 1997 - fascinated the public. Never before has this tragedy been told from inside the sect.
Commented on, analysed and dissected many times, this sectarian tragedy had a considerable impact, even provoking legislative changes designed to better protect fragile souls from the hold of gurus leading to death through submission and mental manipulation.
Thanks to access to the sect's internal archives, kept for twenty-five years by the judicial authorities, the participation of the main living protagonists and the testimony of followers who had never before spoken out, In four episodes, the documentary series "LA FRATERNITÉ" dissects the evolution of a beautiful communal and spiritual utopia towards madness and the annihilation of a group by bullets and fire, voluntary death for some, outright murder for others, massacres grouped together in the media under the heading of collective suicide.
"He who controls the fear of people becomes the master of their souls", Nicolas Machiavelli once theorised́.
At the OTS, the masters of souls were called Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret, and their deadly ideology and the esoteric mystery they nurtured have not ceased́ since then to feed many conspiracy theories and fantasies about hypothetical ramifications at the heart of our societý.
Far from the usual caricatures peddled about the career of OTS followers, 'LA FRATERNITÉ' sheds new light on these tragic events.
Festivals : Festival TV Luchon 2023 - Prix du public Série Documentaire (France), Journées internationales de Soleure 2023 - Sélection officielle Panorama long métrage (France)