Quais du Polar’s professional section

Join Polar Connection, the festival’s professional program, alongside Quais du Polar from Friday March 31st to Sunday April 2nd. During these 3 days, Polar Connection sets up a rallying point at the Palais de la Bourse for French and international professionals of the book, audiovisual, digital and cultural sectors, brought together by their interest for the detective fiction genre.

Don’t miss out on the 10th edition!

You can find the photo gallery of Polar Connection 2022 below.

To subscribe to Polar Connection’s newsletter click here.

A program of round-table discussions and workshops on the issues and current events of the detective novel with leading speakers, formal and informal meetings in a dedicated space conducive to networking, inspiration from the effervescence of the festival... Polar Connection has been designed as a toolbox to explore the full potential of the detective novel in the diversity of its forms and representations with :

a program around professional topics
a Polar Connection lounge reserved for accredited participants
tailor-made "Extras" events for participants
a privileged access to the festival meetings

Polar Connection offers opportunities and the accredited participants can choose and build their own itinerary, according to their needs, questions and desires.

Program

Discover the 2023 program!

Discover the 2023 program! Polar Connection is inspired by the themes and guests of the festival, trends that can be spotted among the actors of crime novels, aiming at creating links to share experiences or initiate projects. Take part in multiple formats such as round tables, workshops, pitch sessions, presentations of French and international catalogs or projects. Without forgetting the convivial moments that we wish to multiply to exchange differently...

2023 Program

Thursday, March 30th

Les Extras !
17h45 – 19h Siège d'Interpol, Lyon 6
Meeting with Interpol experts
Interpol experts will present the different forms of crime they work on, including environmental crime, drug trafficking and cybercrime, as well as a historical presentation to mark the 100 years of Interpol.
Prior registration required - Details in the personal account of accredited persons - Limited space available - visit in French

Friday, March 31st

Morning

9h30 : Opening of Polar Connection - Coffee Reception

10h – 11h Salle Tony Garnier English / French + Spanish / French simultaneous translation
Round Table – Noir Genre in Spain
Echoing the festival's program, which puts Spain in the spotlight, the stakeholders of the noir genre in Spain discuss trends, the genre’s place in the country's literary production and editorial organization, languages and authors from Spain or elsewhere who are part of the news.
with Ana María Caballero, Editor, Ediciones B and Grijalbo ; Juan Cerezo Molina, Chief Editor, Tusquets ;Maria Fasce, Literary Director, Alfaguara, Lumen et Reservoir Books ; Juan Carlos Galindo, Journalist ; Antonio Lozano, Editor, Serie Negra ; Catherine Passion, Literary Agent, A.C.E.R Literaria.
Moderation : Nicolas Roche, Director, BIEF

10h30 – 11h Salle Ampère
Workshop : Audiovisual Writing - Identification, transmission and guidance: which new authors for on-screen crime fiction?
How to become a scriptwriter? How to enter this field, whether you are self-taught or graduated from a training course? And how is writing a crime fiction a (necessary?) step in a screenwriter's career?
with Léa Jeanne Boehringer, Emma Cascales, Anna Vaillant, screenwriters
Moderation : Marie Le Gac, Head of Development, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma

11h15 – 12h Salle Ampère English / French simultaneous translation
Round Table – Digital Narration, a fiction of the real world?
From literature to video games, what place for technology and digital worlds? Discussions with authors experienced in multiple and digital forms of narration.
with Anthony Jauneaud, Author, Narrative Director, Acte Zéro ; Jakub Szamałek, Author, Video Games Writer (The Witcher 3), Poland
Moderation : Claire Paul, Project Manager Let’Go / Horizon jeu vidéo, Game Only

11h15 – 12h Salle Tony Garnier English / French simultaneous translation
Focus – Key figures of the French crime novel market
A look at enlightening data about the crime fiction novel, to question the production, the distribution, the audiences and the ongoing evolutions.
with Guillaume Chamanadjian, Head of Market Diffusion, Interforum ; Dominique Maisons, Director of Bookstore Developpement, Interforum ; Audrey Paillard, Project Officer, Date & Crm, Editis
Moderation Vincent Raymond, journalist

12h15 – 13h Chapelle de la Trinité English / French simultaneous translation
Polar en séries Prize
Pitch presentation of the Polar en séries selection followed by the announcement of the 2023 laureate
with
Sylvain Coissard, Sarbacane, Nathalie Démoulin, Éditions du Rouergue, Frédérique Massart, Gallimard, Lily Salter, Editions du Masque, Claire Hartmann, Milan, Marie-Martine Serrano, Éditions Rivages
Moderation : Isabelle Fauvel, audiovisual consultant, Initiative film
With jury members of the Polar en séries prize and Nathalie Piaskowski, General director of the Scelf

13h – 14h Chapelle de la Trinité - Luncheon Cocktail

Afternoon

14h30 – 15h30 Salle Tony Garnier English / French simultaneous translation
Around Tokyo Vice – A Conversation with Jake Adelstein
A novel recently adapted into a series by Michael Mann, Tokyo Vice has been a defining moment in the journey of author Jake Adelstein, who is also shaped by his life as a journalist in Japan. It also marked the Marchialy publishing house from its beginning.
with Jake Adelstein, Author (United-States); Cyril Gay, Editor, Translator, Marchialy
Moderation: Xavier Leherpeur, Journalist, Cinema and Series Critic

14h30 – 15h30 Salle Ampère English / French simultaneous translation
Round Table – Crime novels in bookstores in France and worldwide
Faced with a dense and blurred genre, how do booksellers take hold of the literary production of crime fiction to promote it in bookstores? Assortment, setting up, selections, animations... Practices vary from one bookshop to another and across the world.
with Marie-Adélaïde Dumont, librairie Doucet (Ensemble), Le Mans; Jean-Baptiste Hamelin, librairie Le Carnet à spirales (Page des libraires), Charlieu; Marie-Anne Lacoma, communication and commercial manager, La Manufacture de Livres; Frédérique Pingault, librairie du Tramway, Lyon and co-president of Libraires en ARA; Montse Porta, librairie Jaimes (Ailf), Barcelone; Athanasse Sougarev, librairie Colibri (Ailf), Sofia
Moderation: Vincent Raymond, journalist

15h45 – 16h15 Salle Ampère English / French simultaneous translation
Case Study – Scenario of 66-5 : The role of reality in tv series writing
Anne Landois and Clarisse Serre have already collaborated on seasons 5 and 6 of Engrenages. They are back for the creation of the series 66-5 (Sortilèges production, Canal Plus Original Creation) and share their experience as authors and lawyer.
with Anne Landois, Screenwriter, Showrunner; Clarisse Serre, Author and Criminal Lawyer
Moderation: Isabelle Fauvel, Initiative Film

15h45 – 16h45 Salle Tony Garnier English / French simultaneous translation
Round Table – Audio Books and Crime Fiction : State of affairs and practices an international stakes
The Audio Book has evolved over the last few years in many ways. This is an opportunity to take a look at this market and the players involved, concerning literature and more particularly crime fiction. And to consider the expectations and questions raised when texts travel internationally
with Solène Chabanais, Foreign Rights Director, Albin Michel – President of the International Commission of the SNE; Cécile Palusinski, La plume de paon President; Catherine Passion, Literery Agent, A.C.E.R Literaria; Laure Saget, Audio Book Development Director, Gallimard
Moderation: Isabelle Berneron, Cultural Attaché Book, Institut français d’Espagne

16h30 – 17h15 Salle Ampère English / French + Spanish / French simultaneous translation
Focus – Writing a four-handed crime novel: investigation between Lyon and Barcelone
The novel La desconocida / L'inconnue du port is published in France and Spain, the result of a collaborative writing experience between Rosa Montero and Olivier Truc. Look back at the genesis of the project promoted by Quais du Polar and its challenges in terms of creation and publishing, with the protagonists involved
with Natalie Beunat, Editor, Points; Maria Fasce, Editor, Alfaguara (Spain); Rosa Montero, Author (Spain); Olivier Truc, Author
Moderation: Vincent Raymond, journalist

17h30 – 18h30 Salle Tony Garnier
Burglar Gentleman – An hour with Takashi Morita
Takashi Morita, a singular Japanese mangaka, has chosen to revisit in manga, with fidelity and great precision, the adventures of Arsène Lupin.
Moderation: Julie Malaure, journalist, le Point
Festival meeting, exclusive access on presentation of the Polar Connection badge, within the limits of available seats.

Saturday, April 1st

Salle Jacquard – Salon Polar Connection

9h30 – 10h15
Breakfast – Spotlight on book influencers
with the support of Lisez !

10h15 – 10h45 English / French simultaneous translation
Crime novel trends with Page des Libraires
with Marie Michaud, Librairie Gibert Joseph (Poitiers), Jérôme Dejean, Librairie Les Traversées (Paris 5^e)

10h45 – 12h45 English / French simultaneous translation
Presentation by 8 editors of their latest crime novels
Albin Michel, Caroline Ripoll ; Alibi, Alice Monéger ; Calmann Levy, Caroline Lepée ; Gallimard, Série noire et La Noire, Stéfanie Delestré ; Marabout, Hélène Gédouin : Le Masque/Lattès, Violaine Chivot ; Robert Laffont, Glenn Tavennec ; X.O., Renaud Leblond with Bernard Minier

12h45 : Cocktail Apéritif
with the support of XO editions with the presence of Bernard Minier

14h30
Café International – Meeting with International Professionals
Editors, agents, booksellers, festival directors...

Les Extras !
15h – 16h30 Guided tour: the evolution of books
at the Musée de l’Imprimerie - 13 rue Poulaillerie, 69002 Lyon
On registration - Details on the personal account of accredited persons - Limited number of places. In French.

Les Extras !
15h30 – 17h30 Visit of the National Service of the police forensic department
31, avenue Franklin Roosevelt - 69130 Ecully
On registration - Details on the personal account of accredited persons - Limited number of places. In French

17h30 - 18h
Special Book Influencers meeting
Discussion with the author Marin Ledun
about the publication of his new novel "Free Queens"

18h – 19h Polar Connection Cocktail
Spotlight on book influencers
with the support of La Série Noire, Gallimard
with the presence of Marin Ledun

SATURDAY 1st and SUNDAY 2nd, APRIL

Discover - on your personal account or at the Polar Connection reception - a selection of meetings of the festival spotted for the Polar Connection accredited.

Registration

Registration is now open!

The Polar Connection accreditation includes:

access to the round-tables and meetings
access to the Polar Connection space for individual meetings, workshops and convivial times;
access to the Digital Hub presenting digital innovations;
a directory with the contacts of Polar Connection participants, given to you before the festival.
A buffet lunch on friday, reserved for the professionals (subject to sanitary restricitions)
the "Polar en séries" prize booklet
a welcome bag with publications from our partners
a selection of meetings from the festival with a cut-the-line pass all week-end

To contact us : polarconnection@quaisdupolar.com

Get your accreditation here!

The Polar en Séries Prize

With SCELF’s support, the Polar en Séries prize rewards a detective novel or a French thriller for its potential for adaptation in TV series.The prize was created to be integrated in professional meetings and encourage links between books and audiovisual content. The prize is based on a call for candidatures from publishing houses. The award ceremony was held on Friday, March 31st, at the Chapelle de la Trinité.

Winner of the Polar en séries prize

Marseille, 1962. As the Algerian War painfully draws to a close in blood and tears, the body of a man is found in the middle of the salt marshes of Camargue. Next to the body, a full jerrycan. Two cops from «L’Evêché», as the police headquarters is nicknamed, Anthureau and Molinari, are dispatched to the scene. They find that the body is that of an Arab man, and that he is exsanguinated. His blood is in the can beside him. The modus operandi is gruesome, and the murder is only the first in a series in a context where Marseille is already in the grip of extreme violence: murders, shootings, open conflicts between the OAS and the FLN, while pieds-noirs and harkis refugees are flocking in large numbers... The politicians, overwhelmed, are operating in very murky waters while local mafias are tearing each other apart to control the future French Connection. In this context, Marcel Azzara, one of their most ambitious bosses, has just had a very large shipment of morphine base stolen. However, he has files on Molinari’s sulphurous past and will therefore blackmail him to locate his drugs as quickly as possible. Over the course of these cases, in which the two investigators with opposing methods and tense relationships will discover that they are much more connected than they could have imagined, Anthureau and Molinari will each have to face their past.

Polar en séries booklet

This year's six shortlisted books are :

● Les Assiégés de Vincenzo Bizzarri et Stefano Nardella – Sarbacane, 2022
● Collapsus de Thomas Bronnec – Gallimard, 2022
● Polar Vert - Les algues assassines de Thierry Colombié – Éditions Milan, 2021
● Les Portes étroites de Simon François – Éditions du Masque, 2022
● Qui voit son sang de Élisa Vix – Éditions du Rouergue, 2022
● Le sang de nos ennemis de Gérard Lecas – Éditions Rivages, 2023

NARDELLA Stefano_BIZZARRI Vincenzo_Les assiégés

Among those 6 finalists, our jury, composed of film industry, book and audiovisual professionals, is in charge of deciding the prizewinner. The prize rewards the publication that will inspire the best TV show adaptation.

Here was our jury for the 2023 Polar en Séries edition :

Michel ABOUCHAHLA, chairman of Écran Total;
Pierre Jacques BENICHOU, casting director;
Emma CASCALES, screenwriter;
Carole LE BERRE, program advisor for Fiction, France Télévision;
Xavier LEHERPEUR, journalist, film and TV series critic (France Inter);
Pierre MONNARD, film director;
Véra PELTEKIAN, vice president in charge of original french productions, HBO Max at WarnerMedia International;
Ivan SADIK, director of Fiction and producteur, StudioFact Stories

You can find the 2022 Polar en séries booklet here

Four-Handed Detective Novel

This spring, La desconocida / L'inconnue du port will be published in Spain by Alfaguara and in France by Points, a four-handed detective novel resulting from a new collaborative writing experience entrusted to Olivier Truc and Rosa Montero. An investigation between Lyon and Barcelona, which is based on the strong axis of the twinning between these two cities. It will be presented in Lyon during Quais du polar and Polar Connection and in Spain in Madrid and Barcelona for its release.

Find out more about last year's Polar à 4 Mains, Terminus Leipzig, on the Festival beyond borders page.

Tools for Professionals

FRENCH-SPEAKING AUTHORS AND POLARS TO DISCOVER

We are happy to announce that Volume 1 of the booklet "French-Speaking Authors and Polars to Discover" is finally available, in English and in French.

This booklet has been conceived as a tool to be put in the hands of book professionals who wish to be in line with the current state of the French-speaking polar genre, in all its

diversity. The booklet offers a selection of the latest publications by authors that Quais du polar has identified and considers to be important contributors to the polar genre. Its purpose is to facilitate access to information regarding the assignment of rights abroad, for translation, and to allow French-speaking authors to be translated and therefore known internationally, in a context of worldwide interest for the genre. Feel free to share it!

French version available here / English version available here

This booklet reflects this approach. It has been elaborated with the support of the French Institute Convention – City and Metropolis of Lyon and distributed in partnership with the international cultural network of the French Institute and the BIEF - Bureau International de l ‘Édition Française.

A YEAR OF POLARS AS SEEN BY BOOKSELLERS

For many years now, during the Quais du Polar festival, of which Page des Libraires is a partner, Page booksellers have been hosting meetings, drawing up panoramas, and offering to share their passion and experience, as well as their favourites. The major trends, established authors or new voices, the titles they recommend and those they sell. All year round they read on proofs, give their opinion on new releases, write articles and conduct interviews. Once again this year, together with Page des Libraires and the Institut français, we have decided to give booksellers a voice with the special edition Un an de polar vu par les libraires 2021-2022, a year of articles, as many leads and tools. A panorama to be compiled, completed, commented on.

Page, the review of books read & advised by booksellers, sheds light on literary news throughout the year. This real medium for sharing books is an opportunity for many people to share their desire to read. To discover it, click here. If you prefer to subscribe, it's this way.