Death of producer Nicolas Altmayer and Mathilde Favier in a car accident

The French film industry is in mourning: Nicolas Altmayer, producer of the films *OSS 117* and *Brice de Nice*, and Mathilde Favier, director of public relations for Dior, were killed in a traffic accident in the Deux-Sèvres department, the Niort public prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

The couple died on Monday, August 17, at around 4:00 p.m., on a departmental road in Airvault, in the north of the department. Their vehicle "collided with a truck traveling in the opposite direction while overtaking another vehicle," stated Niort's deputy prosecutor, Nicolas Leclainche.

The latter also announced that he had opened an investigation for "involuntary manslaughter by a driver" in order to determine the exact circumstances of the incident.

Mathilde Favier, 57, was the director of public relations for the Dior brand, and Nicolas Altmayer, a 61-year-old film producer at the head of the company Mandarin & Compagnie with his brother Éric, is known for producing the films *OSS 117* and *Brice de Nice* starring Jean Dujardin, or more recently Julia Ducournau’s *Alpha* and *Monsieur Aznavour* starring actor Tahar Rahim.

In 2017, the producer and his brother received the Daniel Toscan du Plantier Award, presented by the Académie des César, which honors the best French producer of the year.

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault shared his sadness on Dior's Instagram account, paying tribute to the memory of Mathilde Favier, "who dedicated so many years of her life to putting her passion, energy, and talent at the service of the House of Dior."

"She was an exceptional woman whose communicative joy, talent, and loyalty were exemplary," reacted Dior CEO Delphine Arnault on the same channel.