Loïc Pech – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 24, 2023: THE WORST ONES

March 18, 2023March 20, 2023 Jennifer Merin banlieue drama, betsy bozdech, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Cate Marquis, Elénore Gurrey, jennifer merin, Johan Heldebergh, Les Pires, leslie combemale, Lise Akoka, Loïc Pech, loren king, Mallory Wanescque, Mélina Vanderplancke, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, nikki fowler, Pam Grady, Romane Gueret, The Worst Ones, Timéo Mahaut

Following a director and his crew who are making a movie with non-actor kids and teens from the working-class Picasso neighborhood in Boulogne-Sur-Mer in Northern France, filmmakers Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret’s drama The Worst Ones provides an empathetic look at growing up in challenging circumstances. Documentary-like in its candor, the coming-of-age film is also touchingly tender as it captures a memorable summer in its characters’ lives.

Reviews

THE WORST ONES – Review by Leslie Combemale

March 13, 2023March 19, 2023 Leslie Combemale banlieue drama, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Johan Heldebergh, Les Pires, Lise Akoka, Loïc Pech, Mallory Wanescque, Mélina Vanderplancke, motw, Movie of the Week, Romane Gueret, The Worst Ones, Timéo Mahaut

Exploitation or art? That is at the center of Romane Gueret and Lise Akoka’s The Worst Ones. The filmmakers are part of the 21st century expansion of the banlieue drama, with more stories bring told by woman directors. Lise Akoka’s experience studying psychology and training teen actors in performance put her in a unique place to consider the effects and ramifications of using their experiences to bring reality and truth to their performances. The Worst Ones calls into question what is safe and ethical about filmmaking that mines or exploits non-actors and their experiences in the name of art. They have made a film that makes you think about that, while also showing their cast to their best advantage.

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THE WORST ONES – Review by Jennifer Merin

March 13, 2023March 19, 2023 Jennifer Merin banlieue drama, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Johan Heldebergh, Les Pires, Lise Akoka, Loïc Pech, Mallory Wanescque, Mélina Vanderplancke, motw, Movie of the Week, Romane Gueret, The Worst Ones, Timéo Mahaut

The Worst Ones (Le Pire) is a compelling coming of age drama written and directed by French filmmakers Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret. The narrative involves the making of a feature movie with non-actor kids who are cast as whose fictional characters whose personalities roughly resemble their own and whose rough circumstances are similar to the real lives of those who are cast. They are the toughest kids in their on-the-dole community of Boulogne-sur-Mer, one of the poorest cities in France, and they are recruited by a film production company to act in a movie that’s set in their hood.

Reviews

THE WORST ONES – Review by Nikki Fowler

March 13, 2023March 19, 2023 Nikki Fowler banlieue drama, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Elénore Gurrey, Johan Heldebergh, Les Pires, Lise Akoka, Loïc Pech, Mallory Wanescque, Mélina Vanderplancke, motw, Movie of the Week, Romane Gueret, The Worst Ones, Timéo Mahaut

Cannes Un Certain Regard winner The Worst Ones digs deep into the successful French filmmaking trend of casting non-actors or street performers for roles in films that mimic the person’s real-life stories. In this film, the cast/characters are troubled children and teens from an impoverished housing tenement in the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.

A Belgian indie filmmaker, Gabriel, played by Johan Heldenbergh, is making a feature film debut entitled Pissing in the North Wind, for which he and his production crew are auditioning community kids to cast the most unexpected and troubled to play the film’s characters. Nobody in the community quite understands what he is doing or why — not even those who are chosen to perform.