Gagarine Movie Storyline. Teenager Youri (gifted newcomer Alseni Bathily) has lived his whole life in the tight-knit community of Gagarine, even being named after the famed Russian cosmonaut who inaugurated it in 1963. From the heights of his apartment, the science wiz dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when plans to demolish his home are leaked.
Youri joins the resistance, embarking on a mission to save Gagarine, resolved to keep both the building and its community alive. Working tirelessly with best friend Houssam (Jamil McCraven) and Diana (Lyna Khoudri), a mechanically-minded Roma girl he has a crush on, Youri ingeniously transforms the housing project into his own “starship” before it disappears into space forever.
Gagarine, also known as Gagarin, is a 2020 French drama film directed by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, in their feature directorial debut. It centres around Cité Gagarine, a housing project in Ivry-sur-Seine, on the south of Paris, where the film was shot right before its demolition.
Gagarine was included in the First Features section of the official selection of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was screened for press and industry in an online edition of the Cannes Marché du Film in June 2020. It was subsequently screened at the Zurich Film Festival in September 2020. It was first filmed in America as the SFFILM schools at the festival event. It was nominated for the European Discovery at the 33rd European Film Awards.
Film Review for Gagarine
This astronaut-fueled fantasy comes courtesy of Youri (Alséni Bathily), a young man who wants to follow in his namesake’s footsteps. Youri is a loner of sorts, but he’s also most passionate about trying to keep Cité Gagarine from the wrecking ball. He figures that if he can keep the building from falling too deeply into disrepair, the government won’t tear it down.
So he brokers deals for lighting fixtures and attempts to repair the broken elevators and shutters using his own mechanical knowledge. His best friend Houssam (Jamil McCraven) puts him in contact with an equally mechanically inclined adolescent Roma girl named Diana (Lyna Khoudri), who can get them supplies (and advise them on their electrical work). She and Youri share a love of Morse Code and eventually gravitate toward each other in a sweet, romantic fashion.
Youri pays for his necessary supplies using his mother’s jewelry. She has deserted him, leaving him in their projects apartment while she lives elsewhere with a lover who doesn’t want Youri around. The screenplay’s treatment of this development is hollow at best, but it does provide an entry point for the symbolism that gets thrust upon Youri.
He’s the beating heart of Cité Gagarine, a loner who figuratively adopts it so that he may care for the way he wishes he were cared for by his missing parent. The community at large becomes his extended family for a time, only to have them leave when the wrecking ball draws nearer. With no place to go, Youri decides to stay in his apartment to keep demolition at bay.
Gagarine (2022)
Directed by: Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh
Starring: Alséni Bathily, Lyna Khoudri, Jamil McCraven, Finnegan Oldfield, Farida Rahouadj, Denis Lavant, Cesar ‘Alex’ Ciurar, Rayane Hajmessaoud, Hassan Baaziz, Salim Balthazard
Screenplay by: Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh, Benjamin Charbit
Production Design by: Marion Burger
Cinematography by: Victor Seguin
Film Editing by: Daniel Darmon
Costume Design by: Adrien Durupt
Music by: Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, Amine Bouhafa
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Cohen Media Group, Haut et Court
Release Date: September 26, 2020 (Zurich Film Festival), June 23, 2021 (France), January 27, 2022 (Portugal), April 1, 2022 (United States)
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