Gagarine at Perth Festival

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 16 March 2021

Gagarine-Perth-Festival

Lyna Khoudri (as Diana) and Alseni Bathily (as Yuri)
Photo Credit: Gagarine and Perth Festival

Teenager Yuri is on a quest to save his housing estate from being blown up.

That is the theme of the multi award winning French movie “Gagarine”.

Living under challenging circumstances every day, he dreams to launch into space - taking inspiration from his namesake Yuri Gagarin who was the first cosmonaut to launch into space back in 1961.

Directors Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh depict life on a social housing estate with stark reality as well as conveying the aspirations, mood and turmoil of Yuri’s inner life perfectly.

Amidst the daily grind of life – there are times of happiness and joy - in particular the blossoming romance and magical moments between Yuri and the neighbourhood girl Diana (Lyna Khoudri).

Gagarine is a beautifully crafted and unique movie that intersperses the dreams and reality of a sensitive teenage boy.

Liatard and Trouilh capture the mood and the grit of Yuri's life perfectly in their multi award winning movie – It won “Best Director” at the Athens International Film Festival 2020.

A brilliant performance by Alseni Bathily as Yuri netted him the “Best Actor” award at the Seville European Film Festival 2020.

Gagarine is on at the UWA Somerville till this Sunday 21 March.

Catch the last few films of the Perth Festival Lotterywest Film season surrounded by the magical pines at our favourite outdoor movie place in Perth – the magnificent UWA Theatrette.

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