One of the key events that helped to put Sainte Sevère-sur-Indre on the map, occurred in 1947, when Jacques Tati, who took refuge in the area in WWII, came to town and filmed his debut feature film 'Jour de Fete'.

A story of the local postman 'Francois', who after seeing a film about the American Postal System, in a travelling sideshow, is 'encouraged' by the locals to deliver his letters with the same speed and efficiency as the Americans. The resultant mix of slapstick and satire, was to become classic Tati.

With 'Jour de Fete' Jacques Tati tried out a new colour film process (Thompsoncolor) but the film prooved impossible to process at the time. Fortunately, the producer had the forethought to simultaneously film in standard Black and White. So the film was originally released in its black and white version.

'Jour de Fete' postcard

Only in 1995 was the colour process finally completed, Tati's daughter Sophie Tatischeff discovered how to extract colour prints from the original Thompsoncolor negative film, and the film can now be seen in its original colour.

Since 1947, the town remains virtually unchanged, with many of the buildings and roads featured in the film, still recognisable today.