An interview

The deliciously upbeat Aerobics Project brings together a delightful concoction of disco music, female empowerment… and spies! The feel-good series swoops us back to the early ’80s, when the French aeronautics industry was just getting off the ground. A buff American Jane-Fonda type (who’s actually named Jane) moves into a sleepy Toulouse suburb and turns the community upside down by introducing a handful of local women to aerobics. First and foremost among them is her clever next-door neighbor, Karine, the frustrated wife of a local aeronautics engineer. Jane’s aerobics class is soon the talk of the town, changing attitudes and knitting together a sense of mutual support and female bonding. There may be more to the beguiling American than originally meets the eye… but the lives of all these women will never be the same again.

To celebrate this anniversary, CANAL+ is presenting a special prime-time program titled “40.” It’s an opportunity to defy the passage of time by revisiting some of the defining moments of pop culture in general and CANAL+ in particular. More than sixty—that’s the number of talents, artists, and actors whom the channel has had the privilege of watching emerge, flourish, or grow, and who have reimagined in their own way the films, series, and short-form programs that have shaped our shared history since November 4, 1984. On the stage of the Folies Bergère, Antoine de Caunes gracefully and effortlessly bridges the gap between 1984 and 2024 to host this evening, which alternates between studio segments, pre-recorded footage, and live performances.