ROOKIES
| 2024 – 110′ – Documentary, Coming of Age, Music & Dance.
Written by: Thierry Demaizière, Alban Teurlai.
Directed by: Thierry Demaizière, Alban Teurlai.
Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2022. César Awards Nomination Best Documentary 2023.
Official Competition COLCOA 2022 (North American Premiere)
In French with English subtitles.
A Distrib Films US release. |
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.