Incognita strikes four broadcast deals for WWII doc Fire from the Skies

Fire from the Skies: Britain’s Bombing War

RENDEZ-VOUS: French documentary distributor Incognita Distribution has secured broadcast deals in four territories for its forthcoming two-part documentary Fire from the Skies: Britain’s Bombing War, commissioned by Arte France.

The company has struck agreements with RTS (French-speaking Switzerland), RTBF (Belgium), SBS (Australia) and Asharq News (Middle East and North Africa).

The documentary is produced by French company GoGoGo Films and is one of Incognita’s key titles at this week’s Rendez-Vous in Le Havre, the international market dedicated to French programming and organised by Unifrance. The 2×45′ doc is at pre-sales stage, with no transmission date yet set.

Describing the project, Chloé Persyn-Preljocaj, chief operating officer at Incognita Distribution, said: “It is a two-part documentary that will revisit the Second World War from the British perspective, offering rare images. It studies the war during the Blitz, how the background [to the war] became the forefront. It’s very interesting how the civilians were at the forefront.”

GoGoGo Films brings particular expertise to the subject through its archive research capabilities, said Persyn-Preljocaj. The prodco has secured access to leading historians including Adam Tooze, and the documentary also raises questions about the moral dimensions of Allied strategy. “It questions how a democracy can use carpet-bombing to fight against Nazi Germany,” Persyn-Preljocaj said.

The documentary joins a slate Incognita is presenting at Rendez-Vous that includes other history titles such as William the Conqueror: The Making of a King and Silent Warriors.

Persyn-Preljocaj identified history as consistently performing well in the current market, alongside investigative docs, science and pop culture – especially celebrity portraits. Documentary sales fell 2.7% in 2025 to €43.1m, compared with €44.3m in 2024.

The decline is part of a much wider slump in French programme exports announced at this week’s Rendez-Vous: figures released by France’s Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC) and Unifrance showed exports fell 21.6% year-on-year to €164.2m (US$141.3m) in 2025, their lowest level in 10 years.

On the challenges of the current sales environment, Persyn-Preljocaj acknowledged it now takes more time to sell a programme, and that pre-sales and copros are difficult. “Pre-sales are tough. So you can imagine copros are even harder,” she said.

She also observed that conditions are challenging in key European territories. For both Switzerland and Belgium – the latter the leading territory for French programme sales – she said: “It’s tough, but we are trying to find ways to keep collaborating.”

However, Persyn-Preljocaj said Incognita was well-placed to counter the current downturn, having recently strengthened its catalogue through a deal to represent Federation International’s 900-hour documentary catalogue.

The deal also includes docs produced by Lucky You, a subsidiary of Bonne Pioche Télévision, which is majority-owned by Paris-based media group Federation Studios, as well as titles from 70 third-party producers around the globe. This expanded catalogue has proved especially useful in territories such as Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, where package deals are particularly valued, said Persyn-Preljocaj.