Les pires

Gabriel, a 54-year-old Fleming, is about to make his first film. It is to be a social-realist film about the social problems facing underprivileged young people. To give the film a realistic and raw character, he decides to cast non-professional actors, in this case young people from a problem neighbourhood in the French coastal town of Boulogne-sur-Mer. His choice falls on Lili, Ryan, Jessy and Maylis, four disadvantaged youths. Initially, it seems that Gabriel has nothing but the best intentions for the four, but as filming progresses, a very different Gabriel becomes apparent.

Les pires means the worst; who directors Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret mean by this is for the viewer to decide. With this layered film-within-a-film, they not only show the life of young people in a deprived neighbourhood, they also question the people who portray it all. Featuring Johan Heldenbergh as Gabriel. Awarded at Cannes, among others.