SUMMER BEATS

(Ma Frère)

Los Angeles  Premiere | France | 2026 | Drama, Comedy | 112 min | In French with English subtitles

Directed by: Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret
Written by: Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret, Catherine Paillé
Produced by: Jean Dathanat & Pierre Grimaux (Superstructure), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma
Cinematography: Jean-François Hensgens
Film Editing: Albertine Lastera
Cast: Shirel Nataf (Shaï), Fanta Kebe (Djeneba), Zakaria-Tayeb Lazab (Ismaël), Mouctar Diawara (Aladi), Idir Azougli (Youssef), Suzanne de Baecque (Berengère), Amel Bent (Sabrina), Yuming Hey (Naël)
International Sales: StudioCanal

Synopsis

Shai and Djeneba have always been besties, growing up together in the rough-and-tumble outer-city housing projects of Paris. Now 19, the two headstrong young women get jobs as camp counselors supervising a rambunctious brood of kids at a summer camp in the Drôme. Each grappling with her own personal psychodrama – be it a doomed first love or a painful, abusive family background – the girls suddenly find their lifelong friendship put to the test. Directors Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka, who wowed TAFFF audiences with their first feature, The Worst Ones, in 2022, are back with a poignant coming-of-age film chock-a-block with irreverent dialogue and (as the French title suggests) a healthy helping of colorful, quick-witted ghetto slang.

Directors’ Biographies

Sorbonne cinema-studies graduate Romane Gueret began her career as an assistant director, casting assistant and camerawoman. Lise Akoka studied psychology and acting before becoming a casting director and children’s acting coach. The two women met in 2014, while casting a feature film. In 2015, they co-directed the short film Chasse Royale, which won the Illy Prize at the 2016 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, was nominated for a César Award for Best Short Film and snagged two prizes at COLCOA in 2017. They went on to co-direct the documentary Allez garçon! for Canal+ (2018), and the web series Tu préfères (2020), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on Arte. The Worst Ones, their first feature, was named Best Film of the Un Certain Regard section of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, won Best Film awards at Cineuropa and the Angoulème Film Festival, as well as the TAFFF 2022 Best First Film Award, and was nominated for two César Awards. Summer Beats premiered in the Cannes Premiere section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival and will be released in France in January 2026.