BSAHTEK, SHORT FILM (3:31')
PREMIERE ON NOWNESS
A black leather barber’s chair, glowing neon lights, the monotonous hum of electric clippers...
Like the endless stream of football matches on the screen, haircuts are performed, one after the other, with nearly choreographic consistency, curls and tufts of hair falling to the white tiles below, forming growing mounds.
It is for this hair salon, tucked away on a narrow street in the Pigalle quarter of Paris, that some young people cross the entire Île-de-France for a precise, 10-euro haircut.
The story of a slice of suspended time spent before the mirror.
Shot in 16mm and over a guitar western feeling, the film seeks to capture, with an enthusiasm curbed by modesty, a moment off the beaten path, light-hearted yet serious, in which the haircut becomes a chance to self-perfect. Be it the latest trend or the ritual visit, an exercise of savoir-faire and style, the contemplative moment glimpsed in the reflections of the large gleaming mirrors becomes the refrain from another time.
A ballad that has been played by generations before us, the one that leaves us pensive and moved by the feeling that we are heirs to a tradition, the new charismatic gentlemen with the slicked-back dos.
Then comes the closing remark, bringing the flight of fancy to an end. “Bsahtek” – it’s the approval, the compliment, the last word uttered along with the final flourish that concludes the cut.
(CREDITS)
Starring: Ali Latif, Amine Lakhal, Milan Bodemer, Nouh El M’barky
Extras: Marek Dague, Amine Mahmoud Amara, Christophe Mazuel,
Mamadou Soumare, Soufiane Moulai, Aymen Bouhafs
Written & Directed by Marc Thomas
Production: SOLAB
Producers: Nicolas Tiry, Stéphanie Savornin, Marc Thomas
DOP: Bernard Jallet
Original composition by Pierre Oberkampf
1st director assistant: Matthias Pichard
Line Producer: Cécilia Kotula
Production assistant: Lida Sadhakian, Gabrielle Cohen, Anais Movalli
Unit: Yacine Khelifa, Valentin Prudhomme
1st AC: Paul Thomas
2nd AC: Camille De Brito
Steadicamer: Adam Gulbol
Gaffer: Félix Menard
Electrician: Paul Bijaoui
Key Grip: Thomas Bigot
Grip: Mathilde Caroff
Casting director: Anton Mebarki (IKKI Casting)
Production design: Felix Gesnouin
Production design assistant: Paloma Laratte
Costume design: Simonez Wolf
Costume design assistant: Miako Girre
Hairdressers: Soufiane Moulai, Aymen Bouhafs and Sevil Tai (studio)
Makeup: Flavie Terracol
Editor: Grégoire Brice
Colorist: Arthur Paux
Post house: Everest
Graphic design: Atelier Pierre Pierre
Sound design & Mix: Martin Dillais
PHOTOS BY MARC THOMAS
(CREDITS)
Director: Marc Thomas
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Clément de Hollogne
Produced by SOLAB
Executive Producer: Stéphanie Savornin
Line Producer: Cécilia Kotula
Editing: Jon Echeveste
Music: Staub Audio
Grading: Gabriel Porier
Postproduction: LUX
Agency: Publicis La Maison
Managing Director: Alexandre Dray
Art director: Eglee de Richemont
