Sabrina is the coach of the soccer men's team at Aubervilliers, Seine Saint-Denis, France. The club plays a decisive match and its star striker is not in good shape. Worse, the police burst into the middle of the match to arrest him. Sabrina ‘s nerves will be put to high stress-test.

Director Biography - Noah Gaoua

Noah Gaoua has been involved in the world of cinema for several years and has practiced cinema through his position as an associate producer for Nouvelle Toile Productions, a movie production company. Over years, he was always focused on movies close to relaty. “the locker room” is his first film as a director.

Director Statement
As far as I remeber, I always enjoyed watching a movie that mixes fiction and reality in a simple way. I have always been fascinated by a cinema with everyday people characters, with qualifity and default that make them mere human beings but suddenly, they become extraordinary people on screen. Not heroes, but people we admire, people for whom we worry. The locker room was born during a group movie workshop in which I participated, “”the cinema of the neighbors” animated by the Atelier Kuso in Aubervilliers, Seine Saint Denis, France. The pitch is straight forward, make a film within one day, and with a group. A story that takes place behind closed doors in a locker room during a crucial soccer game.
Sabrina was the character who emerged naturally as the coach of a men's football team. Sabrina became coach thanks to her skills and her strong energy. Still, he will be worried throughout the movie; This is the fate of those who have responsibilities. I wanted to show through her, a character who tries to control a situation that, by definition, she cannot control.
Sabrina's character echoes with the character of the policeman, who also finds himself in the crossfire. On the one hand, He has a clear mission, to enforce an arrest warrant and therefore a public order mission. On the other hand, he also finds himself confined to a locker room and the situation will force him to adapt.
Nowadays atmosphere has demonstrated a frightening trivialization of violence, youth violence and also police violence. In this regard, there is no need to talk about the movie "Les Misérables" by Ladji LI which has brought. His partner, who looks younger, represents the chance to learn yet another way of doing things. The young player that the police come to arrest, Tarek, is a tormented character. Tarek's state of mind has always fascinated me since I saw Spike Lee's "25th Hour". How can you be free and knowing that we will not be free in a few days, in a few hours? During this game, the player will face with the emotional roller coaster.
The shooting took place in difficult conditions; the extras are all the real players of the football club of Aubervilliers. Nevertheless, their lake of experience quickly proved to be an asset because they were surrounded with talented young actors who guided with kindness. Then, the choice to shoot in 4K, was imposed to capture the best possible images in an closed environment. I wanted us to be close to the players without being among them. For this, a visual contrast was necessary. So I decided to mix images captured by a high-definition phone during the celebratory scene. Between the 4K and the digital image of the phone, the gap was huge but a moment of jubilation supported by a strong emotion was the best time to "wake up" the viewer.

Noah Gaoua