Cycles

Banlieues Blues

13 films

Suburbia is a "mythological field" where fantasy intertwines with social criticism. It has been a genre of its own since the 1990s, as well as a place too shoot in many French films.

Banlieues Blues
  • 2022
  • 1h55
by Alice Diop

The RER B is an urban train that traverses Paris and its environs from north to south. A moving testament to the importance of filming as a process of bearing witness and remembering, We is subtle and shrewd in a world which favours shortcuts and easy answers. Justifiably adopting the fragmented structure of a patchwork portrait in order to describe a riven society, Diop displays impressive control of her essay and its impact. In the film’s first few minutes, a deer is observed, through binoculars. Isolation, discrimination and nostalgia for hierarchies, inherited from a monarchical past… Divisions haunt France’s present. But the human urge to give as well as to receive stubbornly creeps into every situation,observed or triggered. Could this be the one thing that still keeps a nation together?

  • Drama
  • 2021
  • 1h38
by Thomas Kruithof

Mayor of a city in the 93 region, Clémence and Yazid, her chief of staff, are engaged in a fierce battle to save the Bernardins district, a housing estate plagued by insalubrity and "sleep merchants". This will be his last fight, before handing over to the next election. But when Clémence is approached to become a minister, her ambition puts all her plans into question. Can Clémence abandon her city, her loved ones, and her promises?...

  • Comedy-drama
  • 2020
  • 1h18
by Samir Guesmi

The life of young Ibrahim is divided between his father, Ahmed, a scaler at the Royal Opera brasserie, serious and reserved, and his friend from the technical high school, Achille, older than him and a specialist in bad tricks. It is precisely because of one of them that Ahmed's dream of regaining his dignity is shattered when he has to pay the bill for a robbery committed by his son that went wrong. Relationships become strained but Ibrahim decides to take all the risks to repair his mistake...

  • Comedy
  • 2022
  • 1h20
by Martin Jauvat

Leslie, a disillusioned young suburbanite, drags his best friend Renard into a crappy scheme at the other end of Île-de-France. On a construction site of the future Greater Paris metro line, they discover a mysterious artifact. What easily draw a small ticket. But over the course of their journey, the Parisian suburbs become the scene of strange phenomena.

  • Comedy-drama
  • 2022
  • 1h39
by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret

A film shooting will take place at the cité Picasso, in the suburbs of Boulogne-Sur-Mer, in the north of France. During the casting, four teenagers, Lily, Ryan, Maylis and Jessy are chosen to play in the film. Everyone in the neighborhood is surprised: why only take the “worst ones" ?

  • Comedy-drama
  • 2016
  • 29min
by Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka

Angélique, 13, is the eldest child of a large family living in the suburbs of Valenciennes. One day at school, she is asked to audition for a film.

  • Musical comedy, Comedy-drama, Biopic
  • 2021
  • 1h42
by Audrey Estrougo

France, early nineties. As the violence escalades between police and youth in the city projects, hip hop culture spreads as the best mean to express revolt. Two boys, JoeyStarr and Kool Shen, become the voice of a generation and the biggest French rap group ever: Suprême NTM.

  • Fantasy and science fiction, Literary adaptation
  • 2017
  • 1h35
by Serge Bozon

Mrs. Géquil is an eccentric teacher despised by her colleagues and students. On a stormy night, she is struck by lightening and faints. When she wakes up, she feels decidedly different… Now will Mrs. Géquil be able to keep the powerful and dangerous Mrs. Hyde contained?

  • 2021
  • 1h39
by Régis Sauder

Il y a dix ans, Emmanuelle, professeure de français d’un lycée des quartiers Nord de Marseille, participait à un film avec ses élèves. A partir de l’étude de La Princesse de Clèves, Abou, Morgane, Laura, Cadiatou et les autres énonçaient leurs rêves, leurs désirs et leurs peurs. Tous se retrouvent aujourd’hui, les souvenirs se mélangent aux récits de leur vie et des obstacles à surmonter. Que reste-t-il de leurs espoirs de liberté, d’égalité et de fraternité ? « Je sais bien qu’il n’y a rien de plus difficile que ce que j’entreprends. », cette phrase du roman trouve plus que jamais écho en eux. En nous.

  • Comedy-drama
  • 2021
  • 1h25
by Eric Gravel

Marie goes to great lengths to raise her two children in the countryside while keeping her job in a Parisian luxury hotel. When she finally gets a job interview for a position she had long been hoping for, a national strike breaks out, paralyzing the public transport system. The fragile balance that Marie has established is jeopardized. Marie then sets off on a frantic race against time, at the risk of foundering.

  • 2020
  • 1h30
by Régis Sauder

In a new town, somewhere in the suburbs of Paris, intimate stories meet the writings of the famous writer Annie Ernaux : is living in harmony a utopia, or could it be actual and overcome the paradoxes of society to welcome foreigners.

  • Comedy-drama
  • 2017
  • 1h35
by Yvan Attal

Neïla Salah grew up in Creteil, and dreamed of becoming a lawyer. Enrolled at the renowned Assas Law School in Paris, on her rst day she runs up against Pierre Mazard, a professor known for his provocative behavior and misconduct. To redeem himself, he agrees to prep Neïla for a prestigious public speaking contest. Cynical and demanding, Pierre might become the mentor she needs... But to do that, both of them will have to rise above their prejudices.

  • Comedy-drama
  • 2021
  • 1h39
by Hafsia Herzi

Nora, a cleaning lady in her fifties, looks after her small family in a housing estate in the northern part of Marseille. She is worried about her grandson ELLYES, who has been in prison for several months for robbery and is awaiting his trial with a mixture of hope and anxiety. NORA does everything she can to make this wait as painless as possible...

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