Gabin

From an early age, Gabin’s life has been set out for him: when he turns 16, he will go away to the Institute de Genech to study for the meat industry, as his older brothers did before him, and eventually take over his father’s butcher shop. The only other opportunities in the region are working in a slaughterhouse, on a farm, or in freight transport. And yet, Gabin has other ideas for his future. He secretly dreams of rescuing his mother’s failing farm from bankruptcy… Gabin has no shortage of dreams—of taking his mother away on a trip, of joining the circus, of becoming an animal osteopath. In the meantime, he seeks refuge with Catherine, a retired teacher who tutors him in his homework and tries to help him discover his own path. Pitted between family loyalty and the desire to break away, GABIN is a portrait of a young man from a working-class milieu in the North of France trying to emancipate himself. The non-linear narration follows Gabin’s life from age 8 to 16, shifting freely across time periods to construct a narrative guided by his vital energy.