PARIS — The brand new “Contained in the Dream” documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of how Dior’s L’Or de J’Adore fragrance was created — from a fledgling idea to the ultimate product being sampled by Charlize Theron.

The perfume marks a milestone for the home because it is the primary major Dior scent developed by its perfume creation director Francis Kurkdjian, who began there in October 2021.

The scent riffs on Dior’s J’Adore fragrance, the brand’s bestselling women’s perfume that was launched in 1999.

The documentary, produced by Terminal 9 Studios, is just not a Dior-created film. Following its launch in France on Canal+ starting Wednesday, “Contained in the Dream” will go live in the remainder of the world, excluding China, through Prime Video starting Friday.

Journalists and friends of the home viewed it on the large screen at Paris’ Grand Rex theater on Nov. 23.

Covering the 18 months it took to create L’Or de J’Adore, the documentary globe-trots as far afield as India and Japan to the fields of the South of France, where Dior fragrance flowers are grown.

There’s a peek into the brand’s perfume archives and the founding designer’s house, the Château de La Colle Noire, in addition to fashion show clips, Dior’s atelier and the “Dior J’Adore!” exhibition that recently took place in Paris.

Alongside Theron, J’Adore’s long-standing face, the documentary features Dior artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri; Parfums Christian Dior president and chief executive officer Véronique Courtois; perfumer Calice Becker, who conceived the primary J’Adore; photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino; bottle designer Hervé Van der Straeten, and Frédéric Bourdelier, heritage and brand culture director at Parfums Christian Dior.

That is the second installment of the “Contained in the Dream” documentary series. The primary one, which got here out in September 2022, was about high jewelry at Bulgari which, like Dior, is owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

The concept is to “understand how a house like Dior creates a perfume,” said director Matthieu Menu, who got here up with the thought after speaking with Olivier Bialobos, Dior deputy managing director in command of global communication and image. “It’s to know how many individuals, how much time it takes to construct [a perfume]. Every time we shot, I understood something [new].”

Menu was interviewed with Kurkdjian by WWD Thursday evening, just before the premiere on the Grand Rex, where spectators were supplied with six scent strips to smell at specific moments throughout the hour-long film.

Kurkdjian met the documentary’s producer Claude Lacaze, who’s founder and CEO of Terminal 9 Studios, and Menu at La Colle Noire, when the perfumer explained how the production team would must fit filming into his already packed schedule.

“Japan was planned, the May rose was planned — you’ll be able to’t move that,” Kurkdjian said with amusing, referring to the rose variety which blooms that specific month. “The film was an add-on to my real job at Dior.”

He explained one other condition. “I don’t wish to act — I’m a perfumer,” said Kurkdjian, who didn’t intend to reshoot scenes too again and again. He added with a smile: “In fact we did sometimes, because I speak very fast.”

“But not a lot, because the thought was exactly this — to suit into how Francis works,” added Menu.

“We cleaned up my office a bit, since it was already a multitude,” said Kurkdjian, with a chuckle. “I told them I’m going to work early.”

Indeed, at 6 a.m. he often sets off for the Parfums Christian Dior headquarters within the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.

The documentary follows Kurkdjian to Kyoto, where he takes part in a Kōdō incense-appreciation ceremony. That happens with a really formal protocol.

“The movements, the gestures we were making were 500 years old,” said Kurkdjian. “That was impressive.”

To film within the temple, the documentary crew needed to be reduced to 1 camera and a gaffer.

That was the inverse to filming in Los Angeles, where Theron met Kurkdjian for the primary time. As imagined, there a Hollywood-size crew, with dozens of individuals, was present.

Earlier within the documentary, Kurkdjian travels to southwest India with Frédérique Lecoeur, Parfums Christian Dior’s perfumer sustainability, ingredients and formulas management, to fulfill with an area jasmine producer. After filming there, he offered people small bottles of fragrance.

“We told them that on this tiny Dior bottle, there is a component of you inside,” said Kurkdjian.

A couple of unexpected scenes include the looks of Liu Yu Xin, Dior brand ambassador in China, who was visiting France. In his office, Kurkdjian explained to her some steps involved in fragrance composition.

The documentary overall is infused with emotion.

“We were shooting with Francis and one moment I remember — you bought really emotional,” said Menu, addressing Kurkdjian. The director was referring to a scene in a Dior production factory, once L’Or de J’Adore was boxed up.

“It doesn’t belong to you,” said Kurkdjian of the perfume.

“It’s not yours anymore,” agreed Menu. “It belongs to everyone.”

Upon his arrival at Dior, Kurkdjian promised colleagues within the factory that he would see them again once they worked on his first creation.

For Dior, the documentary is very important for internal teams to get to share the making-of a perfume, in response to Kurkdjian. He described his 2,100-square-foot office as “one in every of the hearts of Dior.”

One other aim is to more broadly impart what it’s prefer to birth a fragrance. “It’s this concept of showing the craftsmanship and likewise artisanship behind the scenes,” said Kurkdjian.

Menu said his goal is for people to know all that’s poured right into a perfume.

“It’s not only perfume. It’s an idea, a viewpoint and so many individuals working for this — all all over the world,” he said. “It’s incredible.”

Kurkdjian on the outset was concerned about how his work would translate on film, as he spends much time at his desk putting pencil to paper, meticulously recording formulation trials, and scent blotters to his nose. Perfume has neither an audio nor visual component.

“When it’s about putting raw materials altogether, the numbers and all of the techniques behind the perfume-making, it is vitally difficult,” he said. “The concept of conveying the emotion that you’ve gotten once you smell through a picture — I used to be very nervous about the way you translate that and the way you’ll be able to communicate it to the audience.

“It’s a large audience since the movie goes to go to China, to the U.S.,” continued Kurkdjian. “The distribution is to the world principally.”

One other challenge was — while maintaining Dior’s luxury DNA — having people learn that its fragrances aren’t elitist, he added.

Menu lauded the perfumer for being crystal clear in his explanations. “It’s very difficult to clarify how [jasmine] Sambac smells,” said Menu, adding Kurkdjian makes people wish to smell it.

“It’s like a smell-good movie,” said Menu of “Contained in the Dream.” He continuously zoomed in on Kurkdjian testing out different scents, with the paper blotters fanning from his fingers like an authority poker player.

“If you wish to convey the actual feeling to the audience, you’ll be able to’t fake it,” said Kurkdjian.

He has no artifice.

“Sometimes I actually have to pinch myself,” said Kurkdjian, who was earlier within the day on the Grand Rex for an internal presentation. “I used to be on stage where as a child I [watched] ‘Pinocchio.’ I used to be only 10 years old, with my mother and my cousin, up left [in the balcony],” he said. “It was almost 45 years ago.”

That was during exactly in the identical season, pre-Christmas, making for a serendipitous full circle.