The 5th edition of LabSud will take place in Marseille from June 22 to June 26, 2026, with the aim of supporting emerging talents from the South Region of France, or filmmakers developing a feature fiction project set there. This year, six filmmakers will take part in the residency and will be guided in the development of their projects by mentors Sabrina Amara and Alain Layrac, who already participated in the previous edition of LabSud.
We are delighted to come together once again for this new edition, which promises to be a wonderful experience.
After lifting her trauma shield, Jeanne moves through three stages of life to free her body from its buried wounds.
In the late 1990s, in southern France, Esma does everything she can to preserve the carefree childhood of her children, Raphaëlle and Hafsia, while her husband, Ali, who runs a network of slot machines around the Étang de Berre, spirals into violence. But the balance she maintains is fragile.
In a dystopian city abandoned by adults, children survive in rival gangs, haunted by monsters. Diesel, a teenager, kidnaps girls to feed his monstrous mother, until he falls in love with one of them. During a nighttime chase, he discovers freedom in its most beautiful and terrifying forms, and begins to question everything his mother taught him.
The life of Saki, a young Japanese woman newly arrived in France, takes a dramatic turn one evening when she hears domestic violence in her apartment building. In trying to help her Moroccan neighbor Zarahwho, like her, does not speak French. Saki is far from imagining the adversity that awaits them both.
Anouar, a boxer with a scarred face, is wrongly accused of a teenager’s murder and becomes the perfect scapegoat. Only Sarah, a young blind woman ignored by everyone, notices the flaws in the investigation. Armed with her sharp hearing and keen attention to detail, she embarks on a frantic race to prove Anouar’s innocence before justice, swayed by appearances, condemns him.
Baya is a 65-year-old sex worker from Marseille. Retirement is near, but since she never declared her earnings, she’s entitled to nothing. Facing eviction and too old for the streets, an unexpected opportunity arises: managing a retirement home for former sex workers, offering her a way out of poverty.
After studying cinema at the University of Paris I, Alain Layrac enjoyed success with the creation of the series "Une famille formidable" in collaboration with Danièle Thompson. In 1997, he wrote the screenplay for the film "Héroïnes", directed by Gérard Krawczyk, which was a TV hit despite failing in theaters. His original screenplay "Mauvaises Fréquentations" was directed by Jean-Pierre Améris in 1999, marking the debut of Lou Doillon and earning a César nomination for Robinson Stévenin. In 2001, his original screenplay "Barnie et ses petites contrariétés" was adapted by Bruno Chiche, starring Nathalie Baye and Fabrice Luchini. In 2005, he again wrote the original screenplay for the film "Avant qu'il ne soit trop tard", directed by Laurent Dussaux. In 2017, he published "Atelier d'écriture" and adapted his essay for the cinema with "Le Cours de la vie" in 2023, directed by Frédéric Sojcher and starring Agnès Jaoui and Jonathan Zaccaï.
Sabrina Amara grew up in Paris and Gennevilliers. As a screenwriter and dialogue writer (Prêt à Tout, À Toutes Épreuves, Going to Brazil), she directed the short film Pas de Rêve, Pas de Baise, which won awards including the France Télévisions Prize at Clermont-Ferrand and was selected at Palm Springs. She is currently developing two feature films, Yalla Sisters and Les Ailes d’Isis, while continuing her work as a screenwriter for film and television, notably alongside Michaël Souhaité and for Septembre Productions.
