ROOKIES (ALLONS ENFANTS !)
Sunday, October 16 – Truffaut Theatre – 11:00 am
(Screening ends at 12:55 pm)
DOCUMENTARY
Presented in Association with:
Le Pacte
North American Premiere | France | 2022 | Documentary | 110 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Thierry Demaizière, Alban Teurlai
Written by: Thierry Demaizière, Alban Teurlai
Produced by: Stéphanie Shorter, Thierry Demaizière & Alban Teurlai (Falabracks), Romain Icard
Cinematography: Alban Teurlai
Film Editing: Alban Teurlai
Original Score: Avia
International Sales: Le Pacte
Filmed over the 2018-19 academic year, the upbeat breakdance documentary Rookies follows a group of talented, ambitious kids from diverse backgrounds as they adjust to life at Turgot, in the center of Paris, a much swankier high school than they’re used to. It’s a culture shock. The principal has lifted the geographic zoning barrier to allow kids from less affluent neighborhoods to attend the school, to make breakdance a significant part of the curriculum… and boost their chances at winning hip-hop battles with competing schools. The new kids are, of course, all amazing on the dancefloor — dancing is what they live for; it’s their salvation and why they were chosen. And the dynamic film gives them lots of screen time to shine and blow us away with their moves, right up to the climactic breakdance battle. But it also offers many intimate moments, where the kids bare their souls and offer us a glimpse into much more painful aspects of their personal lives. In the end, it’s that split between the reality of who they are and the academic expectations suddenly thrust upon them in this totally unfamiliar world that’s the real stumbling block to be overcome… It’s also what makes them so human, and their path forward such a thorny one.
Thierry Demaizière began his career as a journalist and special correspondent for RTL radio in 1985, then moved on to TF1 television in 2001. In 2014, he was honored with the Philippe Caloni Prize as Best Interviewer of the Year for his weekly show, Sept à huit. In 2004, he teamed up with film editor Alban Teurlai and they began co-directing documentaries for French TV giants like France 2 and Canal+. Defining themselves as portrait painters, their elegant documentaries have profiled such celebrities as Karl Lagerfeld, Vincent Lindon, Fabrice Luchini and Lilian Thuram. Their first feature-length documentary, Reset (2015) focused on Benjamin Millepied, dancer and choreographer with the Paris Opera Ballet. Rocco (2016) is a behind-the-scenes study of porn star Rocco Siffredi. Lourdes (2019) focused on the millions of pilgrimages to Lourdes. And their Netflix series Move (2020) was devoted to the brilliant dancers and choreographers shaping today’s dance world. Rookies, which Teurlai also shot and edited, was the opening film of the Generation sidebar, dedicated to films exploring the lives of teens and children, at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
