Camping at the farm
Camping à la ferme
Director: Jean Pierre SINAPI
Directed by Jean-Pierre Sinapi (Uneasy Riders) and written by sociologist Azouz Begag, CAMPING AT THE FARM is a comic and subtly touching exploration of the experiences of a multi-ethnic band of juvenile delinquents sent to perform community service in a French village.
Social assistant Amar (Roschdy Zem) is in charge of six smalltime hustlers whose only option for staying out of prison is to serve a month in a volunteer labour program at a small farming community. The town’s zealous female Mayor (Nadine Marcovici) welcomes the group with far greater enthusiasm than her all-white rural constituency. Raised in concrete housing projects, the young offenders are put to various tasks – repairing the church tower, constructing a soccer field, helping harvesters – but relations with the smallminded farmers soon sour.
This fish-out-of-water comedy finely throws the urban and rural extremes of French society together for clever effect – but the underlying social commentary is just as keen. Modest in conception but strong in delivery, CAMPING AT THE FARM was one of the surprise hits of the French summer.
France 2005 - Comedy (92 mins)
In French with English Subtitles
Director: Jean Pierre Sinapi
Script: Azouz Begag
Cast: Roschdy Zem, Rafik Ben Mebarek, Jean-Noël Cridlig-Veneziano