The Marchers (French: La Marche) is a 2013 French comedy-drama film by Nabil Ben Yadir. It is loosely based on the events surrounding the 1983 March for Equality and Against Racism.
The Marchers | |
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Directed by | Nabil Ben Yadir |
Written by | Nabil Ben Yadir Nadia Lakhdar Ahmed Ahmidi |
Produced by | Diana Elbaum Benoit Roland Hugo Sélignac |
Starring | Jamel Debbouze Olivier Gourmet Lubna Azabal Hafsia Herzi |
Cinematography | Danny Elsen |
Edited by | Damien Keyeux |
Music by | Stephen Warbeck |
Production companies | Chi-Fou-Mi France 3 Europa Corp Entre Chien et Loup Belgacom TV |
Distributed by | EuropaCorp. Distribution (France) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 120 minutes |
Countries | France Belgium |
Languages | French Arabic |
Budget | $11 million |
Box office | $1.3 million[2] |
The film's release in November 2013 coincided with the 30th anniversary of the march.[3]
In 1983 France, teenaged Mohamed is shot by a policeman, but survives. Rejecting his friends' proposal of violent retribution, he proposes political action inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.[1] With two friends, and support from Dubois, the priest of Minguettes, they embark on a non-violent March for Equality and Against Racism from Marseille to Paris.
Answering a question about taking "liberties with the narration when telling a true story", director and co-writer Ben Yadir said: "You focus on the great History: the towns, the march of the torches, the return to Lyon, the death of Habib Grimzi [fr], all these images that pull you back to reality... But at the start in Marseilles, there was a group of 32, and we obviously could not make a movie with 32 characters. We thus created 10 characters around which we built short stories."[4]
The Marchers had theatrical showings in North America as part of the Rendez-vous with French Cinema series 2014 program.[5]
Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter said "[t]he film’s message of equality is loud and sincere but Yadir, here directing his second feature, struggles to maintain a workable entente between the downbeat story [...] with misplaced-feeling broad humor."[6]
Peter Debruge of Variety called it "uplifting story of racial tolerance [which] should travel well."[7]
Le Parisien gave it a positive review.[8]
Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
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Lumières Awards | Best Screenplay | Nabil Ben Yadir | Nominated |
Most Promising Actor | Tewfik Jallab | Nominated | |
Magritte Awards | Best Film | The Marchers | Nominated |
Best Director | Nabil Ben Yadir | Nominated | |
Best Screenplay | Nabil Ben Yadir | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actor | Olivier Gourmet | Nominated | |
Best Supporting Actress | Lubna Azabal | Won | |
Best Editing | Damien Keyeux | Won |