Gagarin (Gagarine)

Directed by Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh

Cankarjev dom Cinema Gagarin (Gagarine)

France, 2020, 95'

Screenplay: Benjamin Charbit, Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh
Cinematography: Victor Seguin
Music: Sacha Galperine, Evgueni Galperine, Amine Bouhafa
Editing: Daniel Darmon
Cast: Alséni Bathily (Youri), Lyna Khoudri (Diana), Jamil McCraven (Houssam), Finnegan Oldfield (Dali), Farida Rahouadj (Fari), Denis Lavant (Gérard)
Festivals, awards (selection): Zurich 2020

A glimpse at life in an ethnically diverse area on the outskirts of Paris. Shot on the cusp of the actual demolition of the Cité Gagarine housing project, the film blends realism and fertile imagination to live out the fantasies of a young boy.
Yuri, 16, has lived all his life in Gagarine Towers, a vast red brick housing project bearing the name of the first human to journey into outer space. Parentless, surrounded by countless sketches, space maps and a telescope, he spends his days with the other refugees who have found shelter here. From the heights of his apartment, he dreams of becoming an astronaut. However, when plans to demolish his community’s home are leaked, Yuri joins the resistance. With his friends, he embarks on a mission to save Gagarine, transforming the estate into his own ‘starship’.

We organized video workshops, some with tenants of all ages, and some with maybe a dozen people aged 12–25. Some of these young people had just arrived from Syria, others had been there forever. We talked with them a lot about their lives and dreams. We asked them how they pictured themselves later on. Those conversations shaped Youri. Deep down, what developed in those discussions was the necessity of the film, and the engine that drove it: to say that young people who are habitually viewed from a statistical or spectacular angle can have immense dreams and imaginations.
Jérémy Trouilh