Original Title: Les Derniers Parisiens
Out on parole, Nas (played by Reda Kateb who shined as Django Reinhardt in the recent biopic Django) has to toe the line and clock in to work at his older brother Arezki’s bar Le Prestige to avoid being thrown back in prison. But Nas has other plans: he wants to get back into promoting parties and Le Prestige’s location in Pigalle, the heart of Paris’ bustling nightlife, is an ideal calling card. It soon becomes apparent that the brothers are on a collision course started long ago, with the death of their mother and Arezki’s decision to leave Nas with their aunt.
This gripping first feature by Hamé and Ekoué, two of the rappers in leading French rap group La Rumeur, is a Paris-by-night tour that stays a million miles away from the glimmer of the Eiffel Tower, offering instead an insider’s portrait of a vibrant, quickly gentrifying urban neighborhood, with its African hairdressers, Algerian groceries, German tourists, neon sex shops, and every street scam known to man. But beneath its kinetic surface and groovy soundtrack, one finds a profound reflection on the struggles and disappointments of two generations of Algerian immigrants in France.
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This film is part of Young French Cinema, which is a program of UniFrance & the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.
LUMIÈRES FRANÇAISES
Lumières Françaises highlights an exciting new generation of rising francophone talent on both sides of the camera, from rebellious comedies to exquisite dramas and vivid documentaries.