Amoeba Music

In the heart of Paris, a prestigious high school takes a daring bet: the integration of a group of talented hip-hop dancers from working-class neighborhoods and diverse backgrounds. Documentary ROOKIES follows the new students over the course of one academic year, alternating between the pressures of the classroom and the kinetic energy of the dance floor. Students speak frankly about the challenges they face: many come from broken families and have faced poverty, abuse, and personal loss. Through dance, they hope to break the cycle of deprivation.

Building on their earlier dance films, Demaiziére and Teurlai’s immersive cinematography interweaves explosive movement and freestyle sessions with moments of quiet reflection. The subjects of ROOKIES may come from different worlds, but their raw talent and passion are unmistakably the same.