Gagarine

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Gagarine (also known as Gagarin) is a 2020 French drama film directed by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh in their feature debut. The story follows Youri, a 16-year-old living in Cité Gagarine, a housing project in Ivry-sur-Seine, south of Paris, who fights to save his community from demolition. The film expands the directors’ 2015 short of the same name and is built from interviews with residents.

Shot just before the building was demolished, Gagarine blends whimsy and magic realism with real-life themes of community and displacement. The cast includes Alséni Bathily, Lyna Khoudri, Jamil McCraven, Finnegan Oldfield, Farida Rahouadj, and Denis Lavant. Music is by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine with Amine Bouhafa; cinematography by Victor Seguin; editing by Daniel Darmon.

Gagarine premiered in 2020 as part of Cannes’ First Features selection, though the festival was canceled that year due to the pandemic. It later screened online at the Cannes Marché du Film in June 2020 and had its Zurich Film Festival premiere on September 26, 2020. It was released in French theaters on June 23, 2021 and has grossed about $553,042 worldwide.

Critics praised the film for its mix of imaginative storytelling and heartfelt themes. It holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 45 reviews) and a Metacritic score of 74/100, indicating generally favorable reviews.