ZED adds ‘intimate’ Grace Kelly doc

A private picture of Kelly taken in 1969

French producer and distributor ZED has picked up international rights to a documentary about movie star-turned-Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly.

Her Name Was Grace Kelly is in production with Patrick Spica Productions to mark what would have been the 90th birthday of the star, who died in 1982. It will be delivered in spring 2020.

ZED will launch the project, directed by Serge de Sampigny, at Sunny Side of the Doc next week in La Rochelle, France.

Following an exclusive agreement between the Principality of Monaco and Patrick Spica Productions, the Grimaldi family has granted de Sampigny access to its full private archives, which were shot by Kelly and Prince Rainier III, whom she married in 1956.

In total, the doc will draw on some 38 hours of home movies, half of which has never previously been made available to the public, “lifting the lid” on an intimate family saga quite different from the official image of the Princess of Monaco, ZED said.

The doc will also feature members of the family who have agreed to participate in the project, including Prince Albert of Monaco.

De Sampigny, who previously worked as a reporter for BBC World Service and several other outlets, has been making documentaries for France Télévisions, M6 and Arte for the past 15 years. He specialises in telling the stories of great historical events through the amateur films that were shot at the time.