19/07/2019 - Alséni Bathily, Jamil Mc Craven, Lyna Khoudri, Finnegan Oldfield, Farida Rahouadj and Denis Lavant are among the cast of this Haut et Court production being sold by Totem Films

Directors Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh (© Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh)

22 July marks the beginning of the shoot for Gagarine [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Tr…
film profile], the debut feature by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh. Having made a splash with their short films Blue Dog (in national competition in Clermont-Ferrand this year and winner of the International Press Award at the MyFrenchFilmFestival) and La République des enchanteurs (winner of the Canal+ Award at Clermont-Ferrand in 2017), the duo of filmmakers have cast Alséni Bathily (on screen for the first time), Jamil Mc Craven (Nocturama [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile]), Lyna Khoudri (winner of the Orizzonti Award at Venice in 2017 for her performance in Blessed [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a stand-out recently in Papicha [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mounia Meddour
film profile] at Cannes, where she was also seen in The Specials [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], on screen next January in The Breitner Commando), Finnegan Oldfield (nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actor in 2016 for Cowboys [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and for a Lumière Award in the same category in 2017 for Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eva Husson
film profile], also popular in Nocturama, Reinventing Marvin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], We Need Your Vote [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], Escape from Raqqa [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), Farida Rahouadj (turning heads in Heavy Duty [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and in the show Cannabis, among other credits) and Denis Lavant (nominated for the Best Actor César Award in 2013 for Holy Motors [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leos Carax
film profile], seen last year in The Night Eats the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], One Nation, One King [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile] and 3 Days in Quiberon [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emily Atef
film profile]).

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Written by Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh and Benjamin Charbit (nominated for the Best Original Screenplay César Award in 2019 for The Trouble With You [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pierre Salvadori
film profile]), the script centres on 17-year-old Youri, a native of the Gagarine housing project in Ivry-sur-Seine, who dreams of space conquest. While waiting for his mother’s return, he lives alone in a community that he’s always considered to be his family. But the dilapidated neighbourhood is threatened with demolition. Youri isn’t ready to leave this gigantic wall of red bricks that he’s always seen as his own spacecraft. Therefore, the closer the threat of eviction comes, the more he insists on fixing the place, on resisting, to save the neighbourhood at the risk of his own life…

Produced by Julie Billy and Carole Scotta for Haut et Court, Gagarine is being co-produced by France 3 Cinéma. Also pre-bought by Canal+ and Ciné+, the feature benefits from the support of the CNC (via an advance on earnings and a grant for visual or audio creation with the use of visual or audio digital technologies), of the Ile-de-France region, and of the Manon and Indéfilms Soficas. The shoot will take place until 13 September in Ivry-sur-Seine, in the Gagarine housing project, which will be destroyed for real from 31 August. French distribution will be handled by Haut et Court and international sales by Totem Films.

Haut et Court also has, in post-production, Fabienne Berthaud’s A Bigger World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabienne Berthaud
film profile] and Seules les bêtes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dominik Moll
film profile] by Dominik Moll, which we should discover very soon at a major international festival; The County [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Grímur Hákonarson
film profile], by Icelandic director Grímur Hákonarson, which the Parisian company has co-produced; and Memory Box by Lebanese directors Joanna Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, selected in the Venice Gap-Financing Market of the forthcoming Venice Production Bridge (29 August-3 September).

(Translated from French)