Jacques Tati came to live in Sainte Sévère, in the heart of George Sand Country, in 1947. Two years earlier, he had taken refuge at ‘Marembert’ in the village of Vijon to escape forced labour in Germany. He fell in love with Berry and the people of Follainville (alias Sainte Sévère sur Indre).
He promised them he would come back and make a great film. Through five months of filming, the team and the inhabitants of Sainte Sévère developed great understanding. The whole village took part in this great adventure.
Two years later, on the 19th June 1949, the people of Sainte Sévère were able to see their film, Jour de Fête in black and white, a completely wordless comedy (a postman, played by Jacques Tati, sees the village preparing for its fête, participates in these preparations, and, after having seen a film about Post Offices in North America, decides to deliver his letters the American way...). In 1995 this film was finally shown in its complete, colour version

During the thirteenth century, the fort, of which only the ruined keep and the ramparts surrounding the town remain, was an advanced citadel of the Province of Berry, on the frontier with Limousin. The hundred years war saw the town taken by the English and liberated by Duguesclin, a royal constable, after a famous siege in 1372. You enter the town via the drawbridge gate (fifteenth century) and emerge onto the market square with its covered market dating from 1696, and its calvary built in the seventeenth century. This is the same market square which features in Jaques Tati’s 1947 film Jour de Fête. George Sand set the action of her novel Mauprat in this village.

Tour of the town on foot.
Map available from the Tourist Information Bureau or from the Town Hall.
Tel. 02 54 30 69 02 or 02 54 30 50 28
si@sainte-severe.com
www.sainte-severe.com

The House of "Jour de Fête"