Chad Chenouga
Nassim, a 16-year-old boy, is placed with a family in the suburbs following the death of his drug addict mother. But he refuses to integrate into the social setting that surrounds him. He invents another life for himself, similar to that of his mates at the big Parisian high school he goes to. There’s no reason for that to change. His two lives, his home life and his school life, must be kept separate at all costs.
Antoine Sforza, a thirty-year-old young man, left his village ten years before in order to start a new life in the big city, but now that his father, a traveling grocer, is in hospital after a stroke, he more or less reluctantly accepts to come back to replace him in his daily rounds.
17, rue Bleue is an autobiographical drama about an Algerian immigrant's self-destruction in Paris. In it, director Chad Chenouga recounts how his mother, Adda, came to France as an illegal alien, hoping to escape the haunting secrets of her native land, and seeking a new life of wealth. When Adda falls in love with her employer, a wealthy Parisian named Merlin, she believes her fortune is within reach. But troubles begin when Merlin suddenly dies, leaving behind no clear will. Adda, believing in the Algerian superstition that a beauty mark on her son's hand signifies great wealth to come, throws herself into a losing court battle to win Merlin's estate. As legal defeats mount up, Adda turns to drugs, driving away friends and family members, until she's left with only her son, Chad. When he turns 16, his mother dies from her many years of drug abuse.
Yakine, bright student with algerian origins, wears the hijab. Her family and her school want to understand but she refuses to talk about it.
A provocative, seemingly absurd patchwork movie which sends a worthwhile message about hope against all odds, love, children and human understanding. Schoolgirl Victorine has an insane mother and an alcoholic father who can never find his way home in their maze of slum apartment blocks. Aggressive, sexually threatening boys of all ages are everywhere, and while the teacher eventually relents to a gang of adolescent rapists, Victorine gives herself to a rowdy gang of older layabouts, eventually winning the heart of burglar Paul.
