Cover image: Samuel Légitimus addressing the audience
© Entrée to Black Paris

On the evening of Tuesday, November 7,  the Bo Travail ! film production company and France Télévisions welcomed the general public to the Centre Culturel Nouvelle Athènes for an advance look at the new documentary entitled Les Légitimus - Une Famille Française (The Legitimuses - A French Family).

Invitation flier

Members of the Légitimus family and the production team greeted guests and attended to last minute details as Le Lustre, the center's 200-seat auditorium, quickly filled to capacity.

Le Lustre auditorium - signage
© Entrée to Black Paris

Le Lustre auditorium - full house
© Entrée to Black Paris

Pascal Légitimus filming the audience
© Entrée to Black Paris

Légitimus family, France TV, and Bo Travail ! personnel on stage
© Entrée to Black Paris

After the Légitimus family and members of the production team delivered a few words of introduction, the house lights dimmed and the audience settled in to watch the 52-minute documentary.

Samuel Légitimus
© Entrée to Black Paris

Pascal Légitimus in opening scenes of documentary
© Entrée to Black Paris

Title frame of film
© Entrée to Black Paris

The film opens with footage of Pascal Légitimus wandering in Place Edouard VII in Paris' 9th arrondissement and begins a review of the Légitimus family history with anecdotes about the actor/comedian/director/producer. 

It then plunges into the past to explore the story of Hégésippe Légitimus, the patriarch of the iconic family whose legacy serves as a bridge between the French Antilles and France.

Image in the public domain

Journalist, co-founder of Guadeloupe's socialist political party,  mayor of Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe, and assemblyman representing the island in France's parliament, Hégésippe was referred to as the "Jaures Noir."  He and his wife, Clémence Birman, had a son named Etienne, who followed in Hégésippe's footsteps and became a journalist. 

Etienne was a co-founder of the anti-racist organizations MRAP (Movement contre le racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peuples) and LICRA (la Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme). He was a staunch defender and supporter of Antillean culture in France and spearheaded the transfer of the remains of Félix Eboué and Victor Schoelcher to the Pantheon. 

Etienne was the life partner of Marie Berthilde Paruta, an actress, singer, and dancer from Guadeloupe who became known as Darling Légitimus. Darling became famous in her own right, starring in Euzhan Palcy's film Les Cases-Nègres (Sugar Cane Alley) and winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress award at the Venise Film Festival in 1983. She was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1998.

Darling Légitimus
Studio Harcourt
CC-BY-SA 4.0

Etienne and Darling Légitimus had five children, and each of their children had children. Pascal and Samuel Légitimus are Etienne and Darling's grandchildren.

Several members of the Légitimus family were interviewed for the film.  Their memories are interwoven with dozens of vintage photos and narrative about the family's trajectory between Guadeloupe and France.

Viviane Berdier - Great granddaughter of Hégésippe interviewed for film
© Entrée to Black Paris

Samuel Légitimus (shown in the cover image above) spoke passionately about the need for today's generation of Afro-Antilleans to connect with their past in order to be grounded and have the self-awareness and fortitude to handle the challenges they face as Black people in the Hexagon.  Founder of the Collectif James Baldwin, he is an actor, director, translator, and speaker.

Samuel Légitimus - Great grandson of Hégésippe interviewed for film
© Entrée to Black Paris

After the screening, Samuel fielded questions from the audience and director Fabrice Gardel said a few final words before inviting the audience upstairs to a cocktail reception in the presence of the Légitimus family.

Samuel Légitimus and Fabrice Gardel
© Entrée to Black Paris

Les Légitimus - Une Famille Française will air on France 5 on Friday, November 10 at 11:05 PM.