The Debaters

Directed by Julie Chauvin

Fatou, Zouhoudi, Assia, Gabriel...are 14 years old. The school they're attending is nested in the project of the suburbs of Paris. They've decided to form a debate club where they can discuss about what matters most to them: gender equality, immigration, voting. We're filming them during a year, in this democratic forum of their own making, from their timid beginnings to the final debate at the National Assembly. They discover freedom of conscience and freedom of speech. Here, everything's in play: their own identities, their nascent opinions, how they fit in the world and why they want to be heard.