Sébastien Tellier : Many Lives

From his first album, produced from the depths of his soul and composed in an attic, to his appearance on Eurovision, from his onstage image as a celestial tramp to his recent uninhibited blinged-out appearances, Sébastien Tellier has never failed to surprise, bewilder, and disturb, without ever losing his way: the constantly renewed authenticity of his musical world, twenty years later, remains one of the strongest in the contemporary pop scene. Through the words of his artistic entourage—the groups Air and Phoenix, as well as Christophe, Jean-Michel Jarre, and Philippe Zdar—and excerpts from Quentin Dupieux’s Nonfilm, we see the construction of a paradoxical and overwhelming personality whose quirks are as touching as his fierce quest for popular success and an artistic avant-garde. It took eight years for director François Valenza, who also edited the film, to put together a portrait that matches the talent and many lives of Sébastien Tellier.