Gens du pays | Marc-Antoine Cyr

Somewhere in France, in 2019. A young boy, Martin Martin, has been arrested by the police for venturing to the city’s borders. Lacking identity papers, he is detained at the police station for the night. A young policewoman questions his statements: how can he be called Martin Martin when his skin color seems to betray a foreign identity? At his college, the French teacher proposes a new project to honor diversity. He asks the students about their roots, their countries of origin and that of their families. Martin Martin, caught in the crossfire, remains silent. He finds himself pestered by questions calling for simple answers that the adults seem incapable of hearing: “My name is Martin Martin, I come from here, I live here, I am here. I’m French!” On what scale is an individual’s identity measured? Marc-Antoine Cyr’s play explores these burning questions.

Director: Laurent Crovella

Filmed during the Festival d’Avignon OFF 2022.