BANLIEUE BLUES

on’t be confused by that title: the feature debut of French filmmaker Ladj Ly is neither an adaptation of the long-running musical nor Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel. But it is inextricably linked to the latter. “For me, is not the musical,” says Ly, who’s speaking to at the Cannes Film Festival, where his film will go on to win the Jury Prize. “First, it’s a Victor Hugo novel. But moreover, it is a story that was written in Montfermeil. The important thing for me is that poverty and misery is still very much in this neighbourhood, a century after.”