The Worst Ones Les Pires

by Lise Akoka & Romane Gueret

France
2022
99 min
French
Feature film
Fiction
Color
DCP

Un Certain Regard Prize - Cannes 2022

Out of Competition 2022

Official synopsis

A film shooting is to take place in a council estate in Northern France. During the casting, four teenagers are chosen to play in the film. In the neighbourhood, everyone is surprised: why did the director only chose "the worst"?

The programmer’s eye

Continuing the work initiated on “Chasse Royale” (Short Film Prize at the FIFIB in 2016), Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret stage a film shooting in a mise en abyme that challenges the viewer from the very first casting session on. Everything is fiction, but the illusory sensation of witnessing the making of a "real" film is jubilant. Between the pleasure of stirring up trouble and the love for acting, joy permeates “The Worst” and takes nothing away from the directors’ reflexivity. They question their responsibility towards the young actors (who are amazing) and those around them, as they’re aware of the gaze and image they’re conveying. 

Victor Courgeon

Biography and Filmography

After studying cinema at the Sorbonne, Romane Gueret took her first steps towards directing as an assistant director, casting assistant and camera operator. For her part, Lise Akoka followed a university course in psychology and trained as an actress (Les Ateliers du Sudden and the Studio-théâtre d'Asnières). Through the practice of casting and coaching children for the cinema, she then discovered how to make her two interests converge. In 2014, Romane and Lise met during the casting of a feature film. In 2015, they co-wrote and directed short film “Chasse Royale”; it won the Illy prize at the Directors' Fortnight in 2016 and was awarded a prize at the FIFIB. The following year, the film was nominated for the César for Best Short Film. In the summer of 2021, their first feature film, “The Worst”, won the Grand Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.

 

2022 : THE WORST ONES - Lise Akoka, Romane Guéret - Directors and Screenwriters 

2016 : CHASSE ROYALE (SHORT) - Lise Akoka, Romane Guéret - Directors and Screenwriters

Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret, Éléonore Gurrey

Mallory Wanecque, Timéo Mahaut, Johan Heldenbergh…

Les Films Velvet, France 3 Cinéma, Pictanovo

Pyramide

Pyramide International

by Lise Akoka & Romane Gueret

After studying cinema at the Sorbonne, Romane Gueret took her first steps towards directing as an assistant director, casting assistant and camera operator. For her part, Lise Akoka followed a university course in psychology and trained as an actress (Les Ateliers du Sudden and the Studio-théâtre d'Asnières). Through the practice of casting and coaching children for the cinema, she then discovered how to make her two interests converge. In 2014, Romane and Lise met during the casting of a feature film. In 2015, they co-wrote and directed short film “Chasse Royale”; it won the Illy prize at the Directors' Fortnight in 2016 and was awarded a prize at the FIFIB. The following year, the film was nominated for the César for Best Short Film. In the summer of 2021, their first feature film, “The Worst”, won the Grand Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.

 

2022 : THE WORST ONES - Lise Akoka, Romane Guéret - Directors and Screenwriters 

2016 : CHASSE ROYALE (SHORT) - Lise Akoka, Romane Guéret - Directors and Screenwriters