Rookies
(DVD)

Title from sell sheet.

Originally produced as a documentary film in 2022.

Wide screen.

Cinematography and editing, Alban Teurlai ; music, Avia.

Charlotte Saudrais ; Erwan Schamaneche ; Michelle Kibebe ; Nathanaël Marante ; Ketsia Chayni Obame ; Maxime Auber ; Mélissa Joseph ; Aniss Orblin ; David Bérillon ; Pascale Guy ; Christophe Barrand ; Théophile Bensusan (as Théophile 'Joker' Bensusan) ; Laura Defretin.

In the heart of Paris, a prestigious high school takes a daring bet: the integration of a group of talented hip-hop dancers from working-class neighborhoods and diverse backgrounds. The documentary follows the new students over the course of one academic year, alternating between the pressures of the classroom and the kinetic energy of the dance floor. Students speak frankly about the challenges they face. Many come from broken families and have faced poverty, abuse, and personal loss. Through dance, they hope to break the cycle of deprivation. Building on their earlier dance films, Demaiziře and Teurlai's immersive cinematography interweaves explosive movement and freestyle sessions with moments of quiet reflection. The subjects may come from different worlds, but their raw talent and passion are unmistakably the same.

DVD, wide screen.

French dialogue; English subtitles.