French Documentary GABIN Makes U.S. Premiere at DOC NYC

A decade-long documentary following a French farm boy from age 8 to 18 is screening at DOC NYC November 14.

GABIN, directed by Maxence Voiseux, tracks Gabin Jourdel as he grows up in northern France, torn between taking over his father’s butcher shop and his own dreams of training contest cows, breeding dogs, and saving his mother’s farm. Voiseux filmed over ten years to capture the journey.

The film premiered at Cannes in the Quinzaine des Cineastes section, where Variety’s Guy Lodge called it “a remarkably fleet, fluent feat of observation and editing.” Screen Daily’s Lee Marshall compared it to Boyhood, noting “Gabin is remarkable for its immediacy and its feel for story.”

DOC NYC Senior Programmer Murtada Elfadl says Voiseux’s “patient lens is attuned to the joys and vexes of everyday existence as well as the larger questions of maturing and moving on.”

Since Cannes, the documentary has played Locarno, IDFA, Busan, Vancouver, and Melbourne, among others. It’s Voiseux’s first feature. He was born in the Ardennes in 1988 and studied science before switching to documentary filmmaking at Paris VII University.

The U.S. premiere screens November 14 at 3:35 PM at IFC Center, followed by a Q&A with producer Cécile Lestrade. The film will also be available to stream virtually November 15 through 29.

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