Four years after the success of Miserable, Ladj Ly again accuses the police of violence. The director took advantage of the world premiere of his new film Building 5 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to reiterate his point.
“It is a recurring problem in France: acts of violence and murders by the police in these neighborhoods. [dans les banlieues]”, he explained to the specialized magazine. Deadline. “Unfortunately, this happens every month. History repeats itself over and over again.”
“I talked about it four years ago. [à la sortie des Misérables] “And four years later, the situation has gotten worse,” he continues, referring to the death last June of Nahel Merzouk, a teenager murdered at point-blank range by a police officer during a roadblock in Nanterre. The police have carte blanche to kill these young people. people without ever having been convicted. It is a fact and the numbers prove it.”
“It is the police who dictate the law to the ministers”
Comments also made by the director during a conference organized on Saturday by the hollywood reporterreports First: “The police have the green light to kill blacks and Arabs. The government no longer gives the impression of having control over the police.”
“There is absolutely no political will to improve things,” he also stated during the same meeting. “The problems that affected the suburbs have now spread to the rest of France.”
“It is the police that dictate the law to the ministers. It is terrible. For me, we are going directly towards a civil war,” the director finally stated during this conference, before remembering thatAthenaco-written with Romain Gavras, already addressed this topic.
The growing real estate crisis
Building 5scheduled to premiere on December 6, it addresses the growing real estate crisis, in a context of racial tensions, poverty, prejudice and police errors.
“There are different problems: eviction, gentrification,” Ladj Ly told AFP, underlining that “many residents have been evicted to be housed in even more dilapidated or distant neighborhoods.”
The film follows Habi (Anta Diaw), a young woman from a disadvantaged suburb of the Paris region, who becomes involved in local aid associations and quickly becomes a political figure in the city.
When he discovers the new redevelopment plan for his neighborhood, carried out secretly by the mayor, he launches a confrontation against the municipality to prevent the destruction of the building where he grew up.
Source: BFM TV
