Whether he exhibits outside on a public square in Bordeaux and in the gardens of the castle of Versailles, or in museums from Paris to Tokyo, visual artist Xavier Veilhan is a master of staging. It is therefore unsurprising that he has seized the opportunity to freely explore the two monuments of the performing arts that constitute the Paris Opera.

In his film “Matching numbers”, Xavier Veilhan unites these two geographically and stylistically distant entities through a cinematographic ellipse which breaks free from spatial logic, and builds new bridges between the Opera and the outside world.

To a hypnotic score by Zombie Zombie, the artist creates a dream-like universe in which unusual objects and characters enter the Opera, move about, float, run, wade, pivot, dance on bikes… Instead of focusing on the performances on stage, he captures the spectacle of the architecture, the different lights, machinery and its majestic technical games.  

Director: Xavier Veilhan; Artistic collaboration: Alexis Bertrand; Production: Amélie Couillaud; Cinematography: Roman Hatala, Jean-Frédéric Etienne, Damien Bailly; Glider control: Jean-Louis Petit, Martine Petit, Henri Lecaye, Michel Dietlin; Post-production: Cadmos; Editing: Roman Hatala; Color grading: Tomasz Sobezak / Groupe Transatlantic; Music recording: Midilive studio; Sound mixing: Angy Laperdrix / Solaris Studio; Mastering: Chab / Translab; Production: Atelier Xavier Veilhan / Opéra national de Paris; Co-production: eXorde (Casoar collection); with the participation of Rallye Trois Forêt