AN
URBAN
ALLEGORY
SYNOPSIS
In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato ponders: what would happen if one of the prisoners managed to free themselves from their chains and escape from the cave? What if that prisoner were Jay, a little
7-year-old boy?
DIRECTORS’
BIOGRAPHY
Alice Rohrwacher is an Italian screenwriter and director.
JR is a French artist and director.
Together, they co-directed the film Omelia Contadina, which was presented in 2020 at the Venice International Film Festival.
Filmography of Alice Rohrwacher:
2011 Corpo celeste
2014 The Wonders
2015 De Djess
2018 Happy as Lazzaro
2020 Omelia Contadina
2020 Ad una mela
2022 Le Pupille
2023 La Chimera
Filmography of JR:
2011 Women are heroes
2013 Wrinkles of the city - Havana, Cuba
2014 Les Bosquets
2015 Ellis
2017 Faces, places
2020 Omelia Contadina
2021 Paper and Glue
2022 The Past Goes Fast
2024 Tehachapi
COMMENTS OF
THE DIRECTORs
What lies behind the daily movement of a city? Last winter, we met in Paris and began discussing the Allegory of the Cave, as told in Plato’s Republic. The myth imagines humanity living in chains, facing the back of a cave, and watching shadows move on the walls, thinking it is reality. We both work with images, which certainly can be illusions, but can also become instruments of struggle and liberation of thought. So, from this discussion, we decided to create a short film. We had a few fixed ideas—the cave, the dance, the city bustling around us—and one question: what would happen if we all managed to turn together towards the exit of the cave? Perhaps it is not enough to assert that images are illusions as long as the chains that bind us are real.
MAIN CAST
Naïm El Kaldaoui
as Jay
Lyna Khoudri
as Jay’s mother
Leos Carax
as The Director
MAIN
CREW
Director of photography: Daria D'Antonio
Editor: Nelly Quettier
Stop motion supervisor: Victor Haegelin
Sound engineer: Erwan Kerzanet
Mixer: Maxence Ciekawy
Production designer: Santo Krappmann
Costume designer: Isabelle Pannetier
Make up artist: Margaux Rousse Malpat
Artistic assistant director: Tiziana Poli
1st assistant director: Francesca Coticoni
Line producer: Nicolas Avram
Post-production manager: Déborah Aumard-Unger
Music: Thomas Bangalter
Choreography: Damien Jalet
TECHNICAL
DETAILS
Original title: Allégorie Citadine
International title: An Urban Allegory
Duration: 21 min
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Format: DCP
Sound: 5.1
Year: 2024
Original language: French
Country of production: France
Production Companies: Ad Vitam Films, Social Animals
With the support of: Arte France, Arte France Cinema, Chanel
International Press:
WOLF
Michael Arnon
Gordon Spragg
helllo@wolf-con.com
www.wolf-con.com