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Disco Boy

Competition 2023
© Films Grand Huit
Aleksei is a young Belarusian on the run from a past he must bury. Entering into a kind of Faustian pact, he becomes a member of the French Foreign Legion in exchange for the promise of French citizenship. Far away in the Niger Delta, Jomo is a revolutionary activist engaged in an armed struggle to defend his community. Aleksei is a soldier, Jomo a guerrilla fighter. As a result of one more senseless war, their destinies will intertwine.
What is “otherness” and how do you absorb it into who you are as you go through life, cross borders and find yourself inhabiting an ever-changing physical and mental space? Giacomo Abbruzzese exhibits a remarkable sense of out-of-the-box thinking and inventiveness as he explores such questions in a visually striking work that is ripe with poetry and tension. Bodies fall into trances that are both revelatory and altruistic because they represent an opportunity to commune with others. Accompanying this magical reverie is a powerful score from electronic musician Vitalic that helps turn the night club into a place of transcendence. The disco becomes the ultimate destination for those who keep their sights firmly set on the sacred horizon of utopia.
by Giacomo Abbruzzese
with Franz Rogowski, Morr Ndiaye, Laëtitia Ky, Leon Lučev, Matteo Olivetti, Robert Więckiewicz, Michał Balicki France / Italy / Belgium / Poland 2023 French, English, Polish, Russian 91’ Colour

With

  • Franz Rogowski (Aleksei)
  • Morr Ndiaye (Jomo)
  • Laëtitia Ky (Udoka)
  • Leon Lučev (Paul)
  • Matteo Olivetti (Francesco)
  • Robert Więckiewicz (Gavril)
  • Michał Balicki (Mikhail)

Crew

Director Giacomo Abbruzzese
Screenplay Giacomo Abbruzzese
Cinematography Hélène Louvart
Editing Fabrizio Federico, Ariane Boukerche, Giacomo Abbruzzese
Music Vitalic
Choreography Qudus Onikeku
Sound Design Marta Billingsley, Piergiorgio De Luca, Simon Apostolou
Sound Guilhem Donzel
Production Design Esther Mysius
Costumes Pauline Jacquard, Marina Monge
Make-Up Géraldine Belbeoch
Assistant Director Lucas Loubaresse
Production Manager Didier Abot
Producers Lionel Massol, Pauline Seigland
Co-Producers Giulia Achilli, Marco Alessi, André Logie, Gaëtan David, Maria Blicharska, Arno Moria
Co-Production Dugong Films Rom
Panache Productions Lasne
La Compagnie Cinématographique Brüssel
Donten & Lacroix Warschau
DIVISION Paris
Associate Producer Juliette Sol

World sales

Charades

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Produced by

Films Grand Huit

Photos

Press Conference

Red Carpet

Giacomo Abbruzzese

© Manuele Geromini, Laura Villa Baroncelli

Born in Taranto in the south of Italy in 1983, he studied at Le Fresnoy in France and made several short films which screened at festivals including Oberhausen, Clermont-Ferrand and the Viennale as well as on international television. In 2022, his documentary America was nominated for a César. Disco Boy is his debut feature-length fiction film.

Filmography

2010 Archipel; short film 2011 Fireworks; short film 2014 This is the Way; documentary · Stella Maris; short film 2017 Fame; documentary 2020 America; documentary 2021 I santi; short film 2023 Disco Boy

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023