1. Can you introduce yourself to those who may not know you? Where do you come from, and what was your journey before becoming a filmmaker?
Hi, I’m Pascal Tessaud, a self-taught filmmaker and film producer. I was born in Paris but grew up mostly in the suburbs: Morsang-sur-Orge (91), La Celle Saint-Cloud (78), and Saint-Denis (93). After studying literature and film at Paris X Nanterre University, I started out by making short films. I also direct rap music videos, music documentaries, and I’ve made two feature films: “Brooklyn”, shot in Saint-Denis, and this year, “Dans la peau”, filmed in Marseille.
Pascal Tessaud – Director of “Brooklyn” and “Dans la peau”
2. Cinema is an expensive medium, often inaccessible to youth from working-class neighborhoods. Despite camera prices dropping in the 2000s, filmmaking remains an elitist art. How did you manage to find your place?
I come from a working-class family. I had no contacts or connections in the film industry. My turning point was joining the Altermédia association in Saint-Denis, where I worked as a workshop leader for three years. It was a hub for young talents and a training center regularly visited by renowned film professionals such as directors Bourlem Guerdjou (“Vivre au Paradis”), Christophe Otzenberger (“La Conquête de Clichy”), and César-winning director Souad El Bouhati (“Salam”), as well as experienced technicians and producers. There, I met producer Didier Soubrier, who produced my first two short films, “Noctambules” and “L’été de Noura”, on very limited budgets, but with professional cameras and a talented young crew I’d met at the association.
“Noctambules” – Pascal Tessaud’s first short film (2003)
3. Your first feature film, Brooklyn, was an ambitious project. How did you manage to raise funding for it at the time?
Artistically ambitious, yes! But financially, we approached it like a guerrilla-style short film, self-produced with an extremely limited initial budget. We used basic Canon 1D and Canon 5D cameras that I’d previously used for rap music videos with artists like Milk Coffee and Sugar and Nëggus. Our entire crew were volunteers and beginners. We received support from two local associations in Saint-Denis: Le Café Culturel and Les Enfants de la Dalle. We reached out to friends for locations, costumes, extra equipment, vehicles—everything was DIY to the max! Many people contributed to help us complete the project. About 80% of the film was shot on location in the streets! Following our selection at the ACID program of the Cannes Film Festival, we secured a distributor (UFO), co-producers, and a sales agent. Film Factory studio provided us with professional post-production services. Afterward, we obtained grants, international festival bookings, and ran a crowdfunding campaign on KissKissBankBank. Thanks to these funds, we were able to officially hire the entire crew and properly register and pay all musicians and rappers through SACEM—40 people in total! It was an incredible experience. Almost the entire crew from Saint-Denis traveled to Cannes to watch the film together on the big screen for the very first time. It was an unforgettable adventure!
Filming of “Brooklyn”, Pascal Tessaud’s first feature film
4. In England, there’s a strong tradition of social cinema with films like Billy Elliot or The Full Monty, and short films such as Waste that address working-class issues. Do you think France missed this opportunity in its own cinema?
Contrary to popular belief, France actually has a rich tradition of socially engaged cinema. It began with classics by filmmakers like Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo, and Duvivier. France has consistently produced high-quality social films. I’m thinking particularly of the wave of suburban cinema from the 1990s and 2000s, including works by Rachid Bouchareb (“Cheb”), Mehdi Charef (“Tea in the Harem”, “Marie-Line”), Malik Chibane (“Hexagone”, “Douce France”), Jean François Richet (“Etat des lieux”, “Ma 6T va cracker”), Rabah Aimeur Zaimeche (“Wesh Wesh”, “Le Dernier maquis”), Karim Dridi (“Pigalle”, “Bye Bye”), Bourlem Guerdjou (“Vivre au Paradis”), Abdelatif Kechiche (“L’Esquive”, “The Secret of the Grain”), and Alain Gomis (“L’Afrance”, “Andalucia”). There are also filmmakers like Robert Guédiguian (“Dernier Été”, “À la vie, à la mort”, “L’argent fait le bonheur”), Patricia Mazuy (“Travolta et moi”), Claude Chabrol (“La Cérémonie”), Bertrand Tavernier (“L627”, “L’Appât”), Agnès Merlet (“Son of the Shark”), Laurent Cantet (“Human Resources”), Laurent Bouhnik (“Select Hotel”), Cédric Kahn (“Roberto Succo”), Erick Zonca (“The Dreamlife of Angels”), Sandrine Veysset (“Will it Snow for Christmas?”), Claire Denis (“No Fear, No Die”, “Nenette et Boni”, “I Can’t Sleep”), Dominique Cabrera (“L’autre côté de la mer”), Ismaël Ferroukhi (“The Great Journey”), Jean Marc Montout (“Work Hard, Play Hard”), and many others.
ANDALUCIA by ALAIN GOMIS
This list is extensive, and all these films deeply influenced and inspired me. Most of these directors were from working-class backgrounds. While they may not have been huge box-office hits despite being selected at festivals like Berlin, Cannes, or Venice and praised by critics, there was a genuine tradition of showcasing new faces, fresh narratives, social issues, the margins of society, outsiders, the unemployed, and marginalized individuals in French cinema. It’s directly linked to the legacy of the 1970s New Hollywood movement, which captured everyday American life on the streets through filmmakers such as William Friedkin, Martin Scorsese, John Cassavetes, Sidney Lumet, Abel Ferrara, Coppola, and Brian De Palma. The emergence of a French cinema of outsiders corresponded to an openness in French society, aiming to highlight diversity, working-class stories, regional identities, and to break from the bourgeois self-focus of the Nouvelle Vague and its Paris-centered lineage. This was also a great era for British social cinema with directors like Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears, Alan Clarke, and Jim Sheridan, who portrayed the struggles and dignity of the British working class. These socially provocative films nevertheless reached wide audiences. However, given today’s international political climate and France’s severe post-COVID political crisis, producers seem reluctant to take risks and continue along this path. Films that succeed in theaters rely heavily on a star-driven system appealing to broad audiences. It appears that French producers today have little interest in exploring social issues and depicting so-called “undergods,” as they’re labeled in the US, with only a few exceptions like “Sheherazade” by Jean-Bernard Marlin, “Divines” by Houda Benyamina, “Les Misérables” and “Bâtiment 5” by Ladj Ly, “Les Rascals” by Jimmy Laporal Trésor, “Le Gang du Bois du Temple” by Rabah Aimeur Zaimeche, and “La Gravité” by Cédric Ido.
LE GANG DU BOIS DU TEMPLE by Rabah Aimeur Zaimeche
There aren’t many French auteur films keeping this tradition alive, and that’s unfortunate! Taking your camera out into the streets, like Italian neo-realist cinema used to, British cinema continues to, and African-American cinema has been doing consistently (with an impressive list including Spike Lee‘s “BlacKkKlansman”, Ryan Coogler‘s “Fruitvale Station”, Ava DuVernay‘s “Selma” and “13th”, F. Gary Gray‘s “Straight Outta Compton”, Melina Matsoukas‘s “Queen & Slim”, Barry Jenkins‘ “Moonlight”, Reinaldo Marcus Green‘s “Monsters & Men”, Jordan Peele‘s “Get Out”, Qasim Basir‘s “Mooz-lum” and “To Live and Die and Live”, Justin Simien‘s “Dear White People”, and Merawi Gerima‘s “Residue”, etc.).
Perhaps audiences no longer want reality hitting them full force and prefer laughter as a form of relief? That’s understandable, given the world’s current state—we all need breathing space in the cinema. But what disturbs me is that auteur cinema, largely funded by public money, doesn’t reflect diversity. Some British analysts have suggested only 7% of people active in arts and cinema come from working-class backgrounds. How many working-class French filmmakers successfully make feature films? There’s a real barrier. It feels like the last ten years have made things even harder, and auteur cinema is now exclusively controlled by the bourgeoisie—small and large—where even socially oriented films and series are directed by people who are well-born, well-connected, and highly educated. There’s a real closure, a French withdrawal, and a severe lack of inclusion. The 2000s saw a spontaneous generation of new filmmakers from suburban or provincial working-class backgrounds who shared different life experiences. But today, things have clearly regressed, and it’s regrettable.
5. “Brooklyn” was well-received by audiences and was selected at the ACID section of Cannes Festival. How did you experience this success, and what did it change for you as a filmmaker?
Precisely, what I tried to achieve with “Brooklyn” was to make a film that’s accessible to the general public with relatable characters, while also being a complex auteur film with radical artistic choices and formal rigor. It’s as if suburban audiences were condemned to only watch blockbusters or comedies in multiplexes. When you look at British filmmakers such as Andrea Arnold, or the independent New York cinema that I discovered firsthand, you wonder: why can’t we offer singular auteur films about working-class realities to diverse audiences in France? No one in the industry would have dared fund my film “Brooklyn” without famous actors. What moved French audiences was precisely the complexity of relationships and the immersion in reality, discovering unknown faces. Our most memorable screening was the premiere at L’Ecran in Saint-Denis, with 300 locals who weren’t used to seeing themselves portrayed on screen. They laughed loud! The excitement, surprise, sharing, and electrifying atmosphere showed us we were on the right track. There’s a real shortage of independent auteur films rooted in popular social realities and diversity. Audiences are ready for that! But it gets blocked at the decision-making level at the top.
6. Did this success help you get funding and support for your new film, “Dans la peau”?
Not at all! (laughs) I thought it would help me get a foot in the door. I met with around twenty production companies, and although they expressed enthusiasm about my directing abilities, nobody was interested in producing “Dans la peau”. They felt they wouldn’t make enough money with this unusual mix—a dance film combined with social commentary and a love story. It didn’t fit neatly into any category. But that’s exactly what excites me—building bridges, creating the unexpected, mixing diverse inspirations to find new ways of storytelling. I thought with “Brooklyn”, I had proven my ability to engage audiences with marginal stories and characters. The hundreds of festival selections abroad showed me that my cinema was both local and universal. But the class divisions depicted subtly in “Dans la peau”, which are fundamental issues in our society, seemed to bother them—who knows why?
7. “Brooklyn’s” success was partly tied to rap’s popularity. Krump, though artistically rich, is less known to the general public. Do you think choosing krump might distance you from your usual audience?
I think the primary issue in today’s cinema industry is its obsession with producing films purely for financial success and box-office hits. They’ve got “the recipe,” with gurus of Hollywood screenwriting and narrative-arc analysts deployed throughout development teams and screenwriting workshops. There’s a conformity and submission to the dominant Hollywood model, designed to attract the widest possible audience. This commercial uniformity has penetrated decision-makers’ minds, making them reluctant to support alternative visions or innovative originality. If I chose to venture into making “Dans la peau”, it’s because I fell in love with this independent, free, radical dance form. All my artistic projects arise from deep, instinctive passions—things I felt compelled to create—not from calculated commercial decisions or cynicism.
KT Gorique – Rapper and Actress in Pascal Tessaud’s “Brooklyn”
8. You clearly have a passion for hip-hop culture. “Brooklyn” was linked to rap music, while “Dans la peau” focuses on krump. What draws you to these disciplines?
I grew up listening to rap music. In rap, I found stories and life experiences that resonated with me far more than downtown French literature or cinema! I try to make films that are alive, contemporary, and deeply rooted in the challenges of our daily lives and our struggles. I always strive to make films that are personal and essential to me. I need to truly believe in what I write. Against all odds, I spent more than ten years writing the screenplay for this film, and I just finished filming it. Beyond capturing Krump dance on camera, I wanted to follow the journey of an artist from the outskirts who builds himself amidst adversity. The character Kaleem grew up in the northern districts of Marseille. He channels his setbacks, intimate and concrete struggles, economic pressures, and the expectations of those around him, expressing his experiences and truth through dance. Krump can seem aggressive and might deter some viewers, but to me, it’s THE most innovative and creative dance form of this century.
9. Today, rap is the most popular branch of hip-hop, both in terms of success and cultural influence. Do you think this popularity has distanced rap from its roots in the 80s and 90s?
KT Gorique – Rapper and Actress in Pascal Tessaud’s “Brooklyn”
8. You clearly have a passion for hip-hop culture. “Brooklyn” was linked to rap music, while “Dans la peau” focuses on krump. What draws you to these disciplines?
I grew up listening to rap music. In rap, I found stories and life experiences that resonated with me far more than downtown French literature or cinema! I try to make films that are alive, contemporary, and deeply rooted in the challenges of our daily lives and our struggles. I always strive to make films that are personal and essential to me. I need to truly believe in what I write. Against all odds, I spent more than ten years writing the screenplay for this film, and I just finished filming it. Beyond capturing Krump dance on camera, I wanted to follow the journey of an artist from the outskirts who builds himself amidst adversity. The character Kaleem grew up in the northern districts of Marseille. He channels his setbacks, intimate and concrete struggles, economic pressures, and the expectations of those around him, expressing his experiences and truth through dance. Krump can seem aggressive and might deter some viewers, but to me, it’s THE most innovative and creative dance form of this century.
9. Today, rap is the most popular branch of hip-hop, both in terms of success and cultural influence. Do you think this popularity has distanced rap from its roots in the 80s and 90s?
I think rap isn’t just the most popular genre within hip-hop, but also within the entire French and global music industry! It originated in the streets and now touches everyone, across all social classes. Established labels have redirected the plane of hip-hop culture away from its protest-oriented and demanding roots by selecting projects that appeal to broader audiences, often prioritizing catchy moods over deep lyrics. New rappers are becoming stars and genuinely making money, which I think is great. Beyond commercial, heavily streamed rap, there will always be independent countercurrents, research, deeper writing, and substance within new underground waves. I’m eagerly awaiting the French equivalents of new artists like Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, J. Cole, Coast Contra, Asap Rocky, Roc Marciano, and Griselda!
10. Why did you choose krump as the central focus of “Dans la peau”? What inspired you about this dance form?
The big trigger was discovering the incredible documentary “Rize” by David LaChapelle, which introduced krump to the world, especially in France. I think I’m still recovering from this film! When filming the music video “Gamberge” for KT Gorique, I brought in dancers from contemporary dance, capoeira, and krump. I filmed Wolf, whom I found extraordinary, and meeting him sparked the idea of making “Dans la peau” together. I’d started writing “Dans la peau” at 19—about an artist from the suburbs who meets a Parisian woman, grappling with mental barriers between the suburbs and Paris, communication issues, and fear of betraying one’s roots. Wolf embodied perfectly the character I envisioned—a passionate, pure, complex, and vibrant person who would fully showcase his potential on camera for the first time.
11. In 2019, the Opéra Bastille presented a reinterpretation of “Les Indes Galantes” featuring krump prominently. Did you follow this initiative? What are your thoughts?
Of course, it was remarkable. It created an unprecedented dialogue between classical repertoire needing renewal and highlighted a marginalized art form, officially showcased on stage in a symbolic venue often inaccessible to certain social groups. The choreography by Bintou Dembélé was magnificent. Wolf was part of this adventure, along with Magali Duclos, whom I had previously filmed dancing in my latest short film, “La Ville Lumière”.
12. Your film tells a love story reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. Several directors, like Tony Gatlif or Baz Luhrmann (“Romeo + Juliet,” 1996), have revisited this timeless story. Do you think this romantic archetype remains eternally relevant?
Beyond Romeo and Juliet, I consider “West Side Story” the absolute model. It’s timeless because it’s spectacular entertainment with amazing choreography, yet also deeply political, directly confronting racial and social divides, systemic racism, and societal violence through its cross-community love story. With Trump’s return to power, America may again experience major political fractures. But France today isn’t much better off. By situating “Dans la peau” in Marseille, I depict a love story caught in the heart of a city divided in two. Kaleem is from the northern neighborhoods, Marie from the southern ones. I wanted to capture dance, but also the inspiration Kaleem draws from these forbidden lines and borders strongly felt in Marseille—but also in Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Paris, Strasbourg, or Lille. Through this intimate, local story in Marseille, I question the whole of French society regarding these divisions. The love story isn’t a mere pretext—it’s a driving force in many of our lives.
“DANS LA PEAU” directed by Pascal Tessaud, starring Almaz Papatakis and Wilfried Blé ‘WOLF’
13. What inspired you to incorporate this romantic dimension into your film? How did you approach this dynamic within a universe grounded in dance and hip-hop?
What I sought to explore in this film are the complex challenges facing an artist from working-class neighborhoods. How does one build their personal identity? Must he leave his community to thrive elsewhere and face inevitable guilt? Or should he refuse certain comforts and build his life while staying in his neighborhood? Kaleem’s questions reflect my own. I wanted to portray some personal romantic experiences that allowed me to leave my suburb, open myself to the world, but also exposed painful dead-ends and challenging returns to reality. Kaleem is an outsider approaching the center but quickly realizes how fragile his position is and learns that to exist, he must find his place by stepping away from the center. His inner struggles feed his art, pushing Kaleem out of his comfort zone to grow and flourish despite adversity.
15. How did you approach directing and choreographing the dance scenes? Did you collaborate with dancers or choreographers to accurately capture the essence of krump on screen?
I gave the dancers a lot of creative freedom. For Kaleem’s scenes, Wolf and I agreed on the tracks and the sequence order. I provided him with precise directions about the emotional state of his character in each scene. After we discussed this, he instinctively offered his interpretation, bringing his personal feeling to the mood of every sequence. The challenge of a feature film is to avoid repetitive filming techniques in dance scenes. With editor Nicolas Milteau, we focused primarily on the character’s emotional state. We couldn’t simply make a dance documentary; we had to embrace bold stylistic choices to match the characters’ emotions, utilizing off-screen space and unique filming angles to avoid losing the viewer and maintain emotional engagement throughout. For the central battle, Wolf and I structured the face-offs and chose music, but what mattered most was capturing the genuine intensity of a real battle with the crowd’s energy. We invited krump dancers from Marseille—Mugen, Estelle, Rockshin, Clotilde, Simon, Kevin, Yulia, and Llycos—who brought incredible power and authenticity, giving the sequence documentary-like intensity. You can truly feel the energy of a real krump battle; it’s not artificial, creating genuine suspense. I decided to shoot these dance scenes at length to immerse the viewer fully. Audience reactions have been incredible; they experience the scenes as if they were dancing themselves, which is exactly what we aimed for—a true immersion into a krump battle.
“DANS LA PEAU” directed by Pascal Tessaud starring Almaz Papatakis and Wilfried Blé ‘WOLF’
16. Can you talk about the actors and artists who joined you on this project? How did you approach your casting choices?
I started casting the main roles first. I wanted to test Wolf and Almaz Papatakis, a rapper and singer of Greek-Ethiopian descent, whom I knew well. She had professional acting training but rarely got cast due to being considered “too distinctive” or “atypical,” which is precisely what attracted me to her. She defies categorization, perfectly matching Marie’s character—a transclass architect of Greek descent.
Almaz Papatakis portraying Marie in “DANS LA PEAU”
From there, we built a local Marseille-based cast around experienced and talented actors like Naky Sy Savané, Mombi from the rap group 3ème Oeil, Gérard Dubouche, Mohamed Adi, Daniel Saïd. I also organized a large-scale casting within the Ph’art et Balises association, which trains young people from working-class neighborhoods in acting. We gave a chance to several young beginners: Amélie Hassani, Benji Mhoussini, Nathan Mehadjr, Abdel Djenaoui, Nassim Bouguezzi (who later starred in “Pax Massilia”), and Nassim Soltani. With the help of Yasmina Er Rafass, we conducted two months of intensive workshops during summer, allowing the cast to bond and practice concentration, breathing, and improvisation exercises. We rehearsed intensively with Wolf, Almaz, and the entire cast, particularly Marseille’s krump dancers Mugen, Rockshin, Estelle, Yulia, Simon, Kevin, alongside location scouting in Marseille. We had support from Soly from Studio Musical School des B. Vice in La Savine, who generously hosted our shoot, and the association Les Bonnes Mères, who helped us find fantastic locations. The cast and technical crew were 95% local Marseille talents, combining highly experienced department heads with fresh, younger talent. It was an incredible blend of experience and energy!
Filming “Dans la Peau” (2025)
17. What is your connection with Marseille, and why film here?
I’ve been regularly visiting Marseille since 2000. I fell in love with the city instantly. Having spent a year in Italy on Erasmus, I immediately recognized the same light and atmosphere. People live outdoors; the warm, Mediterranean spirit captivated me. I worked here in 2000 with Altermédia Marseille and in 2009 authored a book featuring an extensive interview with the iconic Marseille filmmaker “Paul Carpita, Cinéaste franc tireur”. Marseille means artistic encounters to me. In 2011, I happily directed a music documentary titled “Marseille”, featuring legends like Akhenaton (IAM), Soprano, RED K, Carpe Diem, La Méthode—artists I’d listened to since I was 14! I’m deeply passionate about Marseille rap. For “Dans la peau”, the original soundtrack features three tracks from Imhotep, legendary musical architect of IAM and “Chroniques de Mars”, alongside the renowned krump beatmaker Mozarf, and one track from the rap group 3ème Oeil. Musically, the film is deeply rooted in Marseille’s culture. Recently, I also directed a music video for Relo, a rising Marseille rap talent. Why Marseille? Simply because it’s the most beautiful city in France!
