A documentary series of three 60-minute episodes (“A Snag in the Works,” “Worker Confidences,” and “The Battle Began in Landerneau”), made for television—in the wake of La voix de son maître—from 40 hours of interviews that Gérard Mordillat and Nicolas Philibert conducted with the heads of around fifteen major companies.
Co-produced by the INA and scheduled to be broadcast on Antenne 2 on November 15, 22, and 29, 1978, it was abruptly pulled from the schedule just days beforehand following intervention by one of the participants—François Dalle (L’Oréal). This came despite the fact that the theatrical release of La Voix de son maître a few months earlier had not sparked any protest from the business leaders involved.
This act of censorship triggered a massive wave of protest in the press, as reflected in the articles gathered here. However, nothing came of it: Patrons/Télévision was never broadcast on television.
In 1991, however, La Sept (a precursor to ARTE) offered the two filmmakers the opportunity to create a shorter version, supplemented with a postface by Mosco Boucault. It was broadcast on FR3 on Saturday, May 4, 1991, at 9:00 p.m. under the title Patrons 78/91.
