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Laurent Severac 44, a Frenchman living in Hanoi, has a rare and adventurous profession. In the mountainous jungles of South East Asia he searches new or unknown organic scents for the international perfume industry. We were with him when Laurent found “Mak Truk”, the seed buds of a wild ginger plant, in the jungles of Northern Vietnam. Exciting, when the perfume hunter distils pagoda Melissa for the first time, which he discovered in the herb garden of a steambath at a Laotian pagoda. Adventurous, when he climbs the mountainous Laotian forests with an expedition to search for the world’s most expensive scent: eagle wood, three times as expensive as gold.
His lust for adventure brought Laurent to Asia 14 years ago, where he made his passion his profession. Besides looking for new or unknown scents he runs a small company in Hanoi that distills and extracts high grade essential oils as a raw material for the aroma and perfume producers around the world. Ten lean years lie behind the self-made man, Laurent Severac, in South East Asia. Only now is he beginning to succeed, earn money, and is able to fly home to France regularly, to hunt for truffles with his father und to visit his customers. Laurent is presenting his scent-finds in Grasse, the world perfume capital. Will the buyers und the perfumers like Laurent’s “Pagoda Melissa” or “Mal Truk Oil”?
The film immerses you in Vietnam’s world of scents, promising an adventurous journey and savoir vivre in what was once the old Indochina.
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43 Minutes, Digital Betacam 16:9, Stereo
The Perfume Hunter
A film by: Rolf Lambert & Bernd Girrbach
Camera: Alok Upadhyay
Editing: Mathews Anthony
Editor: Ulrike Becker
Production: Along Mekong Productions, Heidelberg
For SWR, in co-operation with ARTE
© 2008