Country: France
Year: 2017
Duration: 99'
Every year at the University of Saint-Denis, the Eloquentia competition is held to decide “The Best Orator in the 93,” a reference to the number of the Seine-Saint-Denis departement. Students following any course can participate, and prepare with the help of professional advisors, who teach them the delicate exercise of public speaking. Over the weeks, they learn the subtle mechanisms of rhetoric, and will affirm their talents, revealing themselves to others, and above all, to themselves. With this new arsenal, Leïla, Elhadj, Eddy and the others face off in a bid to become the best orator in the 93.
Biography
film director
Stéphane De Freitas
Stéphane de Freitas (France) is an artist and director. His work deals notably with the idea of “bringing opposites together,” since he himself was brought up in a family of Portuguese origin in Seine-Saint-Denis and experienced a dramatic change of circumstances as a teenager, finding himself thrown in the deep end of Paris’ chic western neighborhoods. He is the founder of La Coopérative Indigo, a non-profit organization which aims to rebuild social bonds and get people from different social backgrounds to spend more time together. It was this association that started up the Eloquentia programs in 2012 in Seine-Saint-Denis.
FILMOGRAFIA
À voix haute (coregia/codirector Ladj Ly, doc., 2017).
Declaration
film director
“I hope that watching Speak Up in the cinema will make people think and open up dialog between them. I hope people can get behind the idea of peaceful cohabitation and realize that ‘Yes, we can have different views on life and still manage to talk to and understand each other.’ I don’t think that’s a utopian idea. Beyond that hope, I would like to prove that there are young people in the suburbs who are willing to make a real effort to gain qualifications, live their dreams, and have a voice that counts in our society.”
Cast
& Credits
regia/directors
Stéphane De Freitas, Ladj Ly
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Stéphane De Freitas
fotografia/cinematography
Ladj Ly, Timothée Hilst
montaggio/film editing
Jessica Menéndez, Pierre Herbourg
musica/music
Superpoze
suono/sound
Henri D’Armancourt
interpreti/cast
Leïla Alaouf, Souleïla Mahiddin, Eddy Moniot, Elhadj Touré, Bertrand Périer, Loubaki Loussalat, Alexandra Henry, Pierre Derycke
produttori/producers
Harry Tordjman, Anna Tordjman
produzione/production
My Box Productions
Stéphane De Freitas, Ladj Ly
sceneggiatura/screenplay
Stéphane De Freitas
fotografia/cinematography
Ladj Ly, Timothée Hilst
montaggio/film editing
Jessica Menéndez, Pierre Herbourg
musica/music
Superpoze
suono/sound
Henri D’Armancourt
interpreti/cast
Leïla Alaouf, Souleïla Mahiddin, Eddy Moniot, Elhadj Touré, Bertrand Périer, Loubaki Loussalat, Alexandra Henry, Pierre Derycke
produttori/producers
Harry Tordjman, Anna Tordjman
produzione/production
My Box Productions
**
