Synopsis

Black, a Senegalese bank-robber born and raised in France, is getting over a disastrous heist in which he lost nearly all of his men. He’s seriously thinking of going straight when his cousin Lamine calls him from Dakar: a briefcase full of contraband diamonds has just been deposited in the bank where he works. Thinking this will be an unbelievably easy coup, Black assembles a new gang and quickly flies to Africa, where he’s never set foot. What they haven’t planned, however, is that they are far from being the only ones interested in that briefcase. The corrupt director of the bank, an arm dealer suffering from suppurating psoriasis, a gang of mercenaries from Chechnya and an Interpol agent are also set to get their hands on those diamonds. With a funky soundtrack, BLACK delivers a heist film

Heist film

A heist film is a film that has an intricate plot woven around a group of people trying to steal something. Versions with dominant or prominent comic elements are often called caper movies. They could be described as the analogues of caper stories in film history...

 filled with action and peppered with comedy and mysticism.

Credits

• Director and writer : Pierre Laffargue
• Writers : Lucio Mad & Gábor Rassov
• Cinematographers : Patrick Ghiringhelli & Alexandre Tyl
• Editor : Céline Kélépikis
• Art Directors : Arnaud Roth
• Producers : Moctar Bâ, Lauranne Bourrachot & Marco Cherqui
• Production Company : Chic Films
• Sales Representatives : Wide Management

Cast

• MC Jean Gab’1 as Black (Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum, Seuls two, District B13)
• Carole Karemera as Pamela (Sounds of Sand, Juju Factory)
• François Levantal as Degrand (Sheitan, Belphégor - Le fantôme du Louvre
  Belphégor - Le fantôme du Louvre
  Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre is a 2001 French feature film directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. It is based on a novel by Arthur Bernède...
  
  , L'Appât, La Fille de d'Artagnan)
• Anton Yakovlev as Ouliakov (Le Silence de Lorna, 8th Wonderland, Les Brigades du Tigre)
• Christophe Aquillon (One Way Ticket

Festivals

• Festival du film d’Avignon 2008
• SXSW Film Festival - Fantastic Fest at Midnight 2009
• Seattle International Film Festival 2009
• Fantasia 2009
• Film 4 FRIGHT FEST à Londres 2009
• Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2009
• Fresh Film Fest 2009 (Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic)

Reviews

• A first Ain’t It Cool Review
• A second Ain’t It Cool Review
• A review on Cinematical
• A review on HitFix
• A review on RowThree
• A review on Little White Lies
• And finally an interview with Pierre Laffargue on eFilmCritic

International Release

• France : July 15, 2009
• Canada : Montreal: July 31, 2009 / Quebec & Sherbrooke: August, 2009
• Canada in DVD on October 6, 2009

Technical specifications

• Original Title : Black
• Origin Country : France
• Duration : 111 minutes
• Format : 35 mm
• Color