Dossiers

The ultimate collection of special Obscure documents and other material. All dossiers are in their original languages.

Several reviews, explanations and overview articles about Les Cités Obscures, François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters.

• Histoire du dispositif chapitral en bande dessinée. A story by Benoît Peeters about the use of chapters in the Obscure Cities albums.
• Le Devoir de transmission selon François Schuiten. A review in French by Gilles Ratier.
• What are the Obscure Cities? A thoroughly analysis by Tristan Garcia (French).
• Julian Darius Dossier. An analyses of La Fièvre d'Urbicande and Les Murailles de Samaris.
• François Schuiten: Architect of the Fantastic. An article by Paul Gravett.
• 20th Anniversary, a tribute by Christophe Compère.
• Dossier Schuiten on La Douce. François Schuiten gives his views on La Douce (Dutch).
• Analyses of Genius Questant. A long analysis of the Obscure Cities in French.
• Addicted to the work of François Schuiten. An essay by Lieven Verbrugge.
• Mars et Avril – Loyalty rewarded. An excerpt of L'Horloger du Rêve about the making of Mars et Avril.
• Sur les sentiers d'Urbicande. Article by Vincent Baudoux, published in La revue 9e Art
• François Schuiten over Parijs Zien... 1. Comments by Schuiten on four pages of Revoir Paris.
• Neuvième Art 2.0. Dossier with articles about the Obscure Cities published at Neuvième Art 2.0, the online magazine of La Cité internationationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image (CNBDI).
• La Quête du sens dans Les Cités Obscures. Analysis by Frédéric Kaplan.
• F. Schuiten et B. Peeters : la Fièvre d'Urbicande. An article about La Fièvre d'Urbicande by Raymond.
• Paralelismos: Schuiten y Breccia. Analysis by Emilio A Gil.
• Et si le territoire était une carte, an essay by Mony Elkaïm.

The Obscure world links to our Lighted world. Some of these events are documented in the following documents.

• Mystery of Mary, a research by Joseph le Perdriel
• The Perdriel archives (formerly www.ebbs.net/schuiten), by Alphonse Postelieu.
• Page obscure d'Icures Boscets. Strange events in Japan and Lyon.
• Letter by Mary von Rathen, found by France Culture in 2013.
• Correspondances, by Roman de Malegarde (?), analysis by Sylvain St-Pierre.
• Document presented as the Testament of Mary von Rathen, source unknown.
• Travel Notes on the First Obscure Convention, by Sylvain St-Pierre.
• Collected stories. Stories collected by Christophe Compère.
• Projects for an Obscure Interurban Exhibit.
• Extraits du carnet d'Augustin Desombres. Parts of the documents by Catherine Aymerie, expert in the paintings of Augustin Desombres.

Some documents from the Obscure Cities world that have been found in our Lighted world.

• Study on Temporal Variations Between the Worlds, by Professor Quint Stone, analysis by Sylvain St-Pierre.
• A short explanation of the Mystère d'Urbicande, by Doctor Jean-Paul Van Bendegem.
• Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences, by Professor Nered.

The Obscure Cities are not just an imaginary world by François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters but have been studied on several universities and aspects of the Obscure world have been the subject of many scientific essays and studies.

• Une remédiatisation particulière : les Cités obscures de Schuiten-Peeters comme bande dessinée « élargie » ou « éclatée » ?. Essay by Jan Baetens.
• Grain de sable et engrenage narratif. Présentation d’une source visuelle de La Théorie du grain de sable de Benoît Peeters et François Schuiten. Article by Adrien Genoudet.
• El otro lado del espejo. Arquitectura y cómic, la obra de Schuiten y Peeters. Thesis by Jorge Tuset Souto.
• As Cidades Visíveis - Les Cités Visibles. Reports by João Miguel Lameiras and João Ramalho Santos.
• Le PAE Cités Obscures. Les grandes lignes du PAE, September 1995 - June 1996 by Nathalie Carrié.
• Les œuvres en hypertexte et hypermédia : quelques notions théoriques. Le cas d’Urbicande.be. An analyse by Alejo G. Steimberg.
• Fantastique et bande dessinée : le domaine de l’invisible. Une lecture de La fièvre d’Urbicande, de Schuiten et Peeters. A lecture by Alejo G. Steimberg.
• Sequenze Urbane, An essay in Italian by Andrea Alberghini.
• La Figure du Passage dan Les Cités Obscures de Benoît Peeters et François Schuiten: Réflexion sur le Réel et L'imaginaire. A thesis by Émilie Aubin.
• El mundo de las ciudades oscuras, de Schuiten y Peeters: una topografía de la desubicación. An essay by David Conte Imbert.
• The construction of fantastic spaces: Tlön, Les Cités Obscures and the cognitive power of fiction. An essay by Alejandro Riberi, University of Hull (UK).
• Uma História Natural da Utopia: O Caso das Cidades Obscuras. An essay by Miguel Ramalhete Gomes.
• Games Without Frontiers, by Fabrice Leroy.
• Schuiten and Peeters’s Graphic Meta-utopias, by Miguel Ramalhete Gomes.
• La Eclosión del Estilo. An essay about urban fantasies by Koldo Lus Arana.
• El cómic y la transmedialidad. El caso de La Doce de François Schuiten en Realidad Aumentada, by Katiuscia Darici.
• La Tour de Peeters et Schuiten : ruine d’une utopie moderne. Article by Alice Richir of Université catholique in Louvain
• The Militaristic essence of cartography in the Invisible Frontier by Schuiten and Peeters. An essay by Léopold Lambert.
• The City That Never Existed. An essay by Luis Miguel Lus-Arana, Harvard University.
• From Piranesi to Schuiten: The Hypertrophy of Style: The Hypertrophy of Style. An essay by Luis Miguel Lus-Arana.

Benoît Peeters and François Schuiten gave many interviews over the years. Several of these interviews are saved in these archives.

• Interviews & articles

Some of the most important movies and videos related to François Schuiten, Benoît Peeters and their Les Cités Obscures.

• Viva, a movie by RTS from 1992.
• Le Dernier Plan, full length movie by Benoît Peeters
• Naissance d’une affiche, Schuiten drawing a poster. Filmed by Vladimir Peeters in 2016.
• Oeuvres en chantier - François Schuiten, a movie by Jean-Marc Panis from 1997.
• Traits... Portrait - François Schuiten by RTBF from 1987.
• Témoignages d'obscurophiles by Icures Boscet.
• Aux frontières de l'image. Movie about the work of François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters.
• Le Dossier B. A movie by Wilbur Leguebe on a scenario by Benoît Peeters, François Schuiten and Wilbur Leguebe.
• Le Theatre des Images. Exposition Le Theatre des Images by François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters during the 2003 Angoulême comic festival.
• Dans les Coulisses. Movie about the building of Le Theatre des Images at Angoulême 2003.
• Un Festival d'Images. Impression of the 2003 Angoulême comic festival where Le Theatre des Images was organized.
• La Chambre des Mystères. Documentary about the Mystic Chamber project. Part of the Theater of Images exhibition at Angoulême.
• Naissance d'une Planche. A movie showing François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters working together on the pages of L'Ombre d'un Homme.
• Taxandria, is a partially animated fantasy film by Raoul Servais, based on a book by French writer Alain Robbe-Grillet.
• Urbicande, portrait einer comicstadt. A film by Simone Buche.
• Comics Festival ROY12 Hommage. A hommage to François Schuiten.