Lazhar GATT, présentement entre Alger et Sétif, se concentre sur le travail des comédiens. Il fait passer les castings, et entraîne les acteurs pour les scènes phares.
Sur cette vidéo, vous pourrez voir comme les traceurs de la Team Urban Action s'entraînent au combat, guidés par le réalisateur.
Changement de décors, l'équipe française quitte progressivement Paris, pour prendre ses marques en Algérie. Travail avec les comédiens, casting sur place, mise en oeuvre du staff technique,
repérage des lieux de tournage... Tout cela prend forme, et le travail ne manque pas.
Le premier à être sur place, évidemment, est Lazhar GATT, le réalisateur. Entre Alger et Sétif, il nous propose ces quelques photos de repérage qui laissent rêveur...
Algerian-born, Paris Based Director LAZHAR GATT has developped an early passion for photography but his
childhood stories,told by his grand-parents in the oral tradition his culture, has led him to filmmaking in ordr to tell important things. As one of his favorite director said once : “ if Cinema
doesn't tell important things, then I don't know why I shall make films” ( Jacques Audiard )
The first works Lazhar Gatt begun at the age of 19, on Algonquin in Canada in the Lac St-Jean, in collaboration with a tourism
agency.
Extensive training in photography and development opens the doors of The Studio ELLE and for its prestigious magazine.
He assists the biggest names in fashion photography industry, as Jean-Marie Perier, Friedmann Hauss or Lothar Schmidt. He's been taught to have an esthetic outlook on his environment.
After several years working with model agencies in Paris and New York (Ford Models Europe - Ford Models New York, IMG New York
mainly), he begins to advertise for clients such as Electrolux Arthur Martin, Paint The Town Red, young fashion designers and clients to Special Events such as Folies Pigalle,
the Palace.
In the early 2000s, he returned to more personal work, including reports on two European capitals, Lisbon and Barcelona and two cities in North America, New York and Washington DC ... like the
work of his idol in photography, Raymond Depardon.
Following this work, Lazhar Gatt decided to consider cinema as a mean of communicating its ideas.
A short film test Algiers confirms his choice, and he began to work on a major project on a difficult period for Algeria, 1991-1997 and the rise of Islamic terrorism.
With the production company, Studio EPIX, he now prepares a more intimate film about a social subject, the difficulties of the Algerian youth, including the dangers of drugs and sports as a
solution against the idleness of young people.
Meanwhile, he continues to work for clients such as Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art at the exhibition by Raymond Depardon Paul Virillo for SFR and their location in La Reunion, and for
Logica and their collaboration with Microsoft...
The risk with a film that revolves around a sport is to make a film about the sport. A pitfall
to be avoided at all costs! Here, the "parkour" is seen as a prism through which we discover the current Algerian society
Throughout the film, the question is whether this is a drama or tragedy. In the first case, the protagonists
overcome obstacles to achieve their goals despite the difficulties. The tragedy is this tower along the film, since the antagonists will fail to change the course of their lives. This is still a
realistic view on social evils. Drug addiction is often fatal to people and their surroundings.
In the frame of action, indeed, the psychology of the characters is at the heart of the matter. The destinies
mingle, still bound no matter what. It is a human frame on stage, in the heart of family and social rivalries. The viewer is plunged into a reality to which he belongs. He shall identify with the
hero, take sides or await the outcome.
In the same order of proximity, only the main characters are played by professional actors. The other
participants are not professionals, but trained on the ground a few weeks before the shooting. The method used is the same as the one that was used with the inhabitants of the favelas for the
filming of The City of God.
For a full involvement of the spectator, ParkourSousInfluence is treated with the constant concern of
realism. The film is a fiction, but it points the finger on social realities. The general atmosphere meets this criterion, so that the viewer is totally immersed in a daily events that could be
his.
This choice is also illustrated by the methods of shooting. The studio production design is
deliberately excluded, to focus on authentic locations, after a careful scouting. Despite some obvious technical constraints, demanding the addition of lights, the original ambiance of the place
will be safeguarded. The interiors will be in real apartments, local gyms ... The scenic integrity outweighs the artistic flourishes and stunts are real.
Since few years, Algeria is facing serious issues with the drug addiction of younger and younger Algerians , a
certain way of escaping social and economic problems.
With a neighbour country like Morocco, producer of 60% of the world’s cannabis, Algeria has
troubles making youngsters stop smoking marijuana, taking pills or even sniffing glue…
Luckily, some of the youth, though, has another sort of addiction…sport.
The Parkour is interesting as a sport but also as an idea of how to deal with things in a country where reality
is very harsh. The Parkour teaches not only to train one’s body but also to overcome the difficulties encountered by the youngsters; no money, no reachable goals, no achievable dreams. In the
Parkour, the urban equipment becomes an opportunity and not obstacles any more…
