''15 Lads'' () is a 2011 French

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Romain Cogitore Romain Cogitore (born 2 February 1985) is a French film director, screenwriter and photographer. He wrote and directed the films '' 15 Lads'' (2011), '' Territory of Love'' (2018), and '' A Place to Fight For'' (2023). Early life Cogitore was b ...

in his feature film directorial debut, inspired by the real-life experiences of his grandfather, Antoine Cogitore, as a French Resistance fighter when he was a teenager. It stars

François Civil François Civil (; born 29 January 1990) is a French actor. He has appeared in both French and English-language productions and is known for his roles in films such as '' Frank'' (2014), ''As Above, So Below'' (2014), '' Five'' (2016), '' Burn O ...

as a 19-year-old carefree rescuer who joins a group of 15 young men from the French Resistance in 1944. The film was released theatrically in France by Shellac Distribution on 5 January 2011. For his performance in the film, François Civil was selected as one of the Revelations of the 2012 César Awards and was on the longlist for a pre-nomination for the

César Award for Most Promising Actor Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar ...

Cast

as François/Racine *

Grégoire Colin Grégoire Colin (born 25 July 1975) is a French actor. Career Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama '' Olivier, Olivier'' when he was ...

as Le Bourreau * Grégory Gatignol as Zozo * Jules Sitruk as Peigne *

Michel Vuillermoz Michel Vuillermoz (born 18 December 1962) is a French actor and scriptwriter. Vuillermoz has appeared in more than 100 films and 40 plays. In 1998, he received two Molière Award: Best Male Newcomer and Best Play for ''André le Magnifique''. ...

as Lieutenant Lebel * Jeanne Mettauer as Jeanne * Juliette Lamboley as Véronique * Jules Sadoughi as Ficelle *

Ralph Amoussou Nick Ralph Amoussou (born 3 May 1989) is a French actor. He is known for his roles such as Séby on the Netflix series ''Marianne'' (2019), Samuel Becker on the OCS series '' Missions'' (2019–2021), Paul on the Netflix series ''Transatlantic'' ...

as The bear * Olivier Gueritée as Poux * Augustin Legrand as Tonio * Hélène Foubert as Racine's mother * Bruno Paviot as L'Adjudant * Maxime Lefrançois as Le Brigadier * Stéphanie Crayencour as Jeanne's sister *

Anne Benoît Anne Benoît is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 60 film and television productions since 1981. Career Benoît was trained at the Conservatoire de Versailles, under the direction of Marcelle Tassencourt. She later attended the Ta ...

as Véronique's mother * Christopher Buchholz as The german soldier

Production

''15 Lads'' was

's feature film directorial debut. The film was inspired by the real-life experiences of Cogitore's grandfather, Antoine Cogitore, who was a

resistance fighter A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

during

in the Maquis of

Grande Chartreuse Grande Chartreuse () is the head monastery of the Carthusian religious order. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, north of the city of Grenoble, in the commune of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse (Isère), France. History Originally, the c ...

when he was 17 years old. Antoine's voice taken from a conversation between him with the director is featured at the end of the film. "I find his film very good. It was made by a young person for young people. I was overwhelmed, especially when I heard my voice at the end of the film. I didn't know that he had kept an extract of my conversation with him", Antoine said of the film in 2011. The film was shot in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...

, between August and September 2009.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
''15 Lads''
on

Cineuropa Cineuropa is an online information portal dedicated to the promotion of European cinema. It publishes daily news, reviews, interviews, and industry reports and maintains a database of information. It is available in four languages: English, Fre ...

*
Screenplay
{{DEFAULTSORT:15 Lads 2011 films 2011 war drama films 2011 directorial debut films 2010s French films 2010s French-language films French war drama films French historical drama films Films directed by Romain Cogitore Films with screenplays by Romain Cogitore Films set in 1944 French World War II films Films about the French Resistance French films based on actual events Films set in France Films shot in Alsace Films shot in France French-language war drama films