Fly Or Die: The France TV Series Shining a Spotlight on FPV Drones

Fly Or Die: Les virtuoses du drone — a 5-episode series on France.tv. Racing, freestyle, long-range, cinema: FPV drones hit the national screen in style.

FPV drones had already conquered YouTube, Instagram, and racing circuits around the world. Now they're landing on France Télévisions. From May 7, 2026, the documentary series Fly Or Die: les virtuoses du drone will be available on france.tv studio and YouTube, in five episodes. A first in France for content entirely dedicated to first-person-view flying, produced by a national public broadcaster.

A Project Between Passion and Institution

Fly Or Die is a co-production between SEPPIA and France Télévisions, directed by Gwenaël Giard Barberin, David Zouari, and Jérôme Faure. The project received support from the National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), the Grand Est Region, the City of Reims, and the Grand Reims Urban Community, as part of the Réseau Plato programme.

Before its online release, the series held a highly anticipated premiere on May 4, 2026, at the Cinéma Le Cosmos in Strasbourg — proof that FPV culture is now firmly established enough to fill a cinema hall.

The full title — les virtuoses du drone ("the drone virtuosos") — reveals the project's ambition: not simply showing fast-flying machines, but uncovering the artists and athletes behind the controls.

Four Portraits, Four FPV Worlds

The series follows the daily lives of four French pilots, each representing a different facet of the FPV ecosystem.

Killian, the athlete. At just 20 years old, this racing pilot already ranks among the top five pilots in the world. A member of the Drone Racing League (DRL) — the most prestigious private drone racing league on the planet, with only 12 elite pilots — Killian represents a new generation of French competitors holding their own against the best American and Asian pilots.

Joris, the purist. His discipline is long-range: immersive flights several kilometres from his take-off point, skimming Alpine ridges and mountain crests, where a single mistake means losing the aircraft forever. A practice balanced between poetic contemplation and extreme risk-taking.

Broke'n Roll, the artists. This freestyle collective has built a reputation in the community by pushing choreographic creativity to the limit. Their approach echoes skateboarding or BMX: tricks, combinations, and an instantly recognisable visual signature. The drone as an instrument of bodily expression.

Benoît (aka Fincky), the filmmaker. Now an unmissable reference in professional FPV cinematography for film and advertising, Fincky embodies the meeting point between competitive piloting skill and the demands of professional audiovisual production. His goal: to pull off the craziest shot ever filmed for a director or a brand.

Why This Series Arrives at Exactly the Right Time

The arrival of Fly Or Die on a national public platform is no coincidence. It marks the cultural recognition of a practice long relegated to the fringes of aeromodelling.

In France, FPV has exploded since 2020. Simulators like Velocidrone and Liftoff have democratised learning. Retail platforms have made equipment accessible from a few hundred euros. And videos from pilots like Fincky or freestyle collectives have racked up millions of views, building a young, curious, and engaged audience.

Yet despite this rapid growth, FPV still suffers from a visibility gap with the general public. Many people still confuse FPV racing drones with consumer drones like DJI models. Fly Or Die is designed precisely to bridge that gap: to show that FPV flying is a discipline in its own right, with its champions, its artists, its codes, and its community.

The France Télévisions endorsement and CNC backing give this series a reach far beyond what any specialist YouTube channel could achieve. It is a rare opportunity for the entire FPV community.

Where and When to Watch Fly Or Die

The series is available from May 7, 2026 on two free platforms:

• france.tv studio: France Télévisions' digital content platform
• YouTube: accessible directly with no account required

The five episodes each cover one of the four worlds represented — racing, long-range, freestyle, and cinematography — with a narrative structure that gives as much space to human stories as it does to technical performance.

Conclusion: FPV Steps into the Light

Fly Or Die: les virtuoses du drone is more than a documentary series. It is a powerful signal to the entire French FPV community: your passion deserves to be told, and the wider public is ready to hear it. For anyone still on the fence about getting into FPV, this might just be the best introduction there is.