Last day of screenings in Sala Truffaut for the Generator+13 section of the 53rd edition of the Giffoni Film Festival. The film in competition JUNIORS directed by French director Hugo P. Thomas closed #Giffoni53. The filmmaker comes from a personal social background, based on the division separating the residential area from the French countryside. When he reached his teenage years, he decided to move to Paris to pursue his goals. After directing several short films, with JUNIORS he ventured into a feature film for the first time.
It can be seen as a homage to his teenage years, spent in the French countryside. A period of his life spent in absolute isolation, as if there was nothing around him. This oppression obviously had consequences on his upbringing.
The protagonists of the film JUNIORS are Jordan and Patrick, two 14-year-old boys living in a small town in the South of France. The place where they live is the worst place for young people, for it has nothing to offer them, no way to enjoy their free time away from home. Because of this, their only entertainment is the PlayStation4 and the game Call Of Duty. The real tragedy for the two comes when the console breaks down and they are forced to buy one in order to survive. But how can they get one if they have no money to spare? That's easy, by pretending Jordan is sick with cancer, so they can open an online fundraiser. While people's aim is to help him pay for treatment, for the boys, the goal is just to buy a new PlayStation. The two boys, convinced that their plan will work, soon come face to face with harsh reality. Jason and Patrick become infamous in the village for being two opportunists. When Jason's mother, away at work, finds out about the lie, the problems in their relationship of silences and lies inevitably emerge.
Director Hugo P. Thomas was present for the last Generator+13 debate. In the midst of excitement and enthusiasm, the jurors asked the French filmmaker some very interesting questions. The first juror, to break the ice, asked Thomas if he too had pretended to have cancer as a child, given that this was a story inspired by his own experiences. The answer of course was 'no', and that he only wanted to address the many mistakes one makes during middle school. Another remark, made by a juror who was particularly moved by the film, concerned the relationship between the mother and her son Jordan. The woman, working all day at the hospital, was not always able to verbally demonstrate her love for her son. For this reason, she always put post-its on his wall or in the different rooms. The director replied, on the basis of the conflictual relationship with the mother, emerged all the other lies on which the film is based.
And finally, the filmmaker was asked why the feature film bore this title. The filmmaker gave two answers to this question. The first was that it clearly relates to the youthfulness that belongs to the protagonists and secondly, because in France, the term Juniors indicates the most difficult level of games. Considering that teenage years are the most difficult period a young man can experience, Hugo P. Thomas could not have chosen a more apt term.
