The Phantom of the Opera(Le Fantôme de l'Opéra)
A film by Alexandre Castagnetti
The world behind the curtain.
From the grandeur of the Palais Garnier to rehearsal rooms, empty balconies and hidden spaces around the stage, these images move between spectacle, intimacy and mystery.
A legendary story, reimagined in present-day Paris.
A young dancer enters the Palais Garnier and finds herself drawn into a mystery where ambition, desire and the supernatural begin to overlap.
Eighteen-year-old Anastasia arrives in Paris with dreams of becoming a ballet dancer at the Opéra Garnier. Under ambitious artistic director James Figueras, the company prepares a new production of Orpheus, a supposedly cursed work linked to the legendary Phantom of the Opera.
When Anastasia encounters a mysterious pianist, an impossible romance begins to unfold. As opening night approaches and unexplained accidents unsettle the company, the boundaries between performance, legend and reality become increasingly difficult to separate.
The Phantom returns through dance.
This contemporary adaptation shifts the world of Gaston Leroux from the voice of the opera singer to the physical language of dance. At its centre is Anastasia, a young ballerina navigating the discipline of the company, the demands of performance and a supernatural romance unfolding inside the Palais Garnier.
A legend returns to the place that created it.
Alexandre Castagnetti’s adaptation brings the story back to the Palais Garnier itself. The building’s monumental staircases, auditorium, rehearsal spaces and backstage corridors become active parts of the film’s world rather than decorative scenery.
By setting the story in contemporary Paris while retaining the architecture and mythology of the Opera, the film creates a meeting point between a century-old legend and the energy of a new generation of performers.
Alexandre Castagnetti
A contemporary French filmmaker bringing fantasy, romance and movement into Gaston Leroux’s classic story.
Alexandre Castagnetti is a French director, screenwriter, composer and musician. His feature work includes Amour et Turbulences, Tamara and L’École est à nous.
With The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l'Opéra), Castagnetti and co-writer Camille Fontaine relocate the legend firmly into the present, using ballet and contemporary movement to reshape the emotional language of the story.
French cinema on the big screen in Calgary.
Experience Alexandre Castagnetti’s contemporary adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) at the Calgary European Film Festival.
Friday, November 6, 2026.
A full-length French feature.
Presented in French with English subtitles.
Step deeper into the production.
Meet the performers at the centre of the story and discover selected members of the creative team behind this contemporary adaptation.
Between performance and reality.
Inside and beyond the Palais Garnier, the film lets rehearsal, romance and legend begin to occupy the same space.
