Gabin

synopsis

We must leave behind what we love in order to find ourselves. So it is for Gabin Jourdel, who wants a different life than that of his parents – a butcher and farmer who have worked hard all their lives yet still struggle to make ends meet. This longitudinal portrait follows Gabin’s ten- year journey from an eight-year-old boy to a mature young man of eighteen, caught between loyalty to his family and freedom. The pastures of Artois in northern France form the backdrop to this coming-of-age story. Far from the chaos and pace of modern civilisation, the intoxicating beauty of the natural elements conceals the melancholy of a bleak timelessness, stagnation and disappearance. This intimate family chronicle explores both intergenerational conflict and the effects of globalisation on rural communities.

“I begin to see Artois as a genuine film set, its inhabitants as living, novelistic characters. The Artois region is where I first envisioned becoming a filmmaker, and I pay particular attention to its working-class roots.” — Maxence Voiseux, The Hollywood Reporter

biography

Maxence Voiseux (1988) is a French filmmaker who initially studied electrical engineering at ECE in Paris, continuing his studies in Montreal and Lima before completing a programme in documentary directing in Paris. His graduation film Of Men and Beasts (2014), The Heirs (2016) and his feature-length debut Gabin all take place in his native region of northern France and focus on the Jourdel family.

film details

director:	Maxence Voiseux
producer:	Cécile Lestrade, Ulla Lehmann, Palmyre Badinier, Elise Hug
script:	Maxence Voiseux
photography:	François Chambe, Martin Roux
editing:	Pascale Hannoyer, Natali Barrey
sound:	Elton Rabineau, Ilù Seydoux
sound design:	Henry Sims, Ilù Seydoux

contact

Raluca Iacob / Lightdox raluca@lightdox.com