French primaries, or how to lose the election?

Over the past two decades, the primaries have turned French political life upside down. Presented as a democratic advance intended to give a voice back to party activists and to legitimize the candidates, they have nevertheless produced a spectacular paradox: in 2017, their two winners, François Fillon and Benoît Hamon, were swept aside in the first round of the presidential election, paving the way for Emmanuel Macron’s sudden rise and the lasting collapse of the traditional parties.

Through a gripping chronological narrative, drawing on the INA archives of major televised debates and exclusive testimonies from key players—front-runners, underdogs, minor candidates, and pollsters, the film recounts this modern political tragedy,in which each election serves as a barometer of internal divisions. Des débats de la première primaire socialiste en 2006 à la débâcle de 2017, le film interroge un système qui mobilise, divise, expose… mais peine à rassembler.

From the debates of the first Socialist primary in 2006, broadcast on parliamentary channels, to the debacle of 2017, the film examines a system that mobilizes, divides, and exposes… but struggles to unite.