Pacific Club
Fall Grants 2021 - Production Stage
Valentin Noujaïm / Short Documentary / France, Qatar / 15 min / Original Language: Arabic, French / Interests: Immigration, Creative Documentary
Synopsis
La Défense, the 1980s. Paris’ business district is booming—in the day, men and women come to work—in the night, the district empties. Meanwhile, French President François Mitterrand proudly launches the monumental Grande Arche de la Défense in honour of the French Revolution and “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity”. The Pacific Club opens beneath it all. In 1979, the Pacific Club was the first nightclub to welcome young Arab boys and girls from the suburbs, who were usually banned from Paris’ nightclubs. For a decade, they danced under the glass and steel towers of this district. They represented the first generation of sons and daughters of immigrants who dreamed of integrating into France. However, they weren’t dressed like other French youth, and they listened to a different type of music—hip hop, soul, and R’n‘B. Guided by the voice of Azedine, 18 years old in 1983, the film sheds light on the segregation of the Parisian nightlife, mixing archives and wanderings. Pacific Club is a testimony, on film, of these forgotten and hidden places where immigrants lived, danced and loved, to prevent them from disappearing.
Credits
- Director
- Valentin Noujaïm
- Screenwriter
- Valentin Noujaïm
- Producer
- Manon Messiant
- Production Company
- Iliade et Films
About the Director
Born in France to Lebanese and Egyptian parents, Valentin Noujaïm is a political science and screenwriting graduate who crafts tales centred around anti-racist movements and disappearing communities. His work questions the relationships of power and domination at stake in French society through the prism of a strong ideal—revolutionary love or the love of revolution. Noujaïm is currently penning his debut feature, 'The Night of Queens'. Filmography includes 'Saturnalia', 'Daughters of Destiny', and 'Venus Retrograde'.