Shangri-la

Adapted from the acclaimed science-fiction graphic novel Shangri-La by Mathieu Bablet and winner of the Prix Numix 2022.

Part of the official selection of the Festival international de la BD d’Angoulême in 2017, Shangri-La was also a finalist for the Prix Fnac and the Grand Prix de la critique. Since then, the now essential author has received the Prix BD Fnac France Inter for Carbon et Silicium and the Prix des libraires (BD Hors Québec category) for Silent Jenny.

Shangri-La is the first major graphic novel success by its author, Mathieu Bablet. The story transports us to a future that feels far removed. Earth has become uninhabitable, and humans—alongside their new slaves, the animoids—survive aboard the Tianzhu station, under the control of a totalitarian, consumer-driven society that has abolished all individual freedom.

As the narrative unfolds, the characters gradually reach different states of awareness about the world around them and develop new convictions.

Here, Christelle Derré presents an immersive cine–graphic novel concert, staging the imagery in a four-sided visual environment and bringing the graphic novel’s characters to life. Speech bubbles disappear, giving way to sound design, voice-over performances, and on-screen text. At the crossroads of theatre and cinema, illustration and animation, this work invites you to experience the graphic novel through a fully immersive journey, in catharsis with this expansive narrative world.

The original score for the Shangri-La concert is composed for three musicians: guitar, synthesizers, and drums. Blending 1970s sci-fi tones with contemporary electronic textures, the music shifts between emotional (epic post-rock crescendos), intimate (contemplative atmospheres), and explosive (heavy, tension-filled rock metal). Composer Vincent Girault offers a “Space Electro-Rock Opera” that closely follows the movements of Mathieu Bablet’s narrative.

“Take your seat—you are the people of the Tianzhu station. We invite you to Tianzhu Day, the national celebration of TIANZHU ENTERPRISE. A sonic, musical, and visual immersion into the dystopian universe of Shangri-La.”