Aperitif-Cinema: Tehachapi

Apéro-Ciné : Tehachapi Screening + 16 years old in original version with subtitles by JR Avec Tehachapi, JR signs a committed and deeply human documentary on the power of art in a prison setting. In October 2019, the artist obtained exceptional authorization to intervene in one of the most violent high-security prisons in California. There, he met twenty-eight incarcerated men, several of whom are serving very long sentences for crimes committed when they were minors. Through a monumental mural project, JR gathers their portraits and their stories. Each is invited to show themselves, to testify, to take their place again in a collective image. Little by little, the film reveals something other than walls, convictions, and numbers: human stories, broken paths, regrets, family ties, but also desires for reparation, transformation, and rehabilitation. Tehachapi does not seek to erase the gravity of the acts committed. It questions instead what society chooses to see or no longer see when an individual is locked up. What remains of a person behind prison walls? Can one change? How can art reopen a space for speech, trust, and dignity where everything seems frozen? In line with his work in the public space, JR makes the image a tool for encounter. The mural becomes a bridge between the inmates, the prison staff, the families, and the outside world. The documentary thus shows how a collective work can break down certain barriers, shift perspectives, and restore a form of hope in a place that often seems devoid of it. Presented in several international festivals, Tehachapi is a film about prison, but above all about the possibility of a second chance. A poignant look at the humanity behind the walls, and at the power of art when it allows for listening, connecting, and imagining differently. As part of Festival Frontières. Official Selection Festival du Film de Copenhagen Festival du Film of Telluride Festival du Film de Rome Festival of the Amsterdam Film Festival