BEING 17

Synopsis

Damien is the pampered teenage son of a soldier and a doctor. He lives with his mother in Army barracks in the south of France while his father is on a military mission in the Central African Republic.

Damien shows a new, defiant side of himself in high school in order to stave off the bullies who taunt him over his effeminate ways: a friend of his father’s is teaching him to wrestle.

When he meets Tom, the adopted son of local farmers, the hatred between the two boys is immediate and visceral.

But when Tom’s mother is forced to go to the hospital, Damien’s mother quite naturally offers to take Tom into their home for a short while. The tension between the two boys becomes more and more palpable...

Biography

Born in Valence d’Agen in 1943, André Téchiné started out writing for the film magazine ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’ (1964-1967). He then became assistant director to Jacques Rivette and started to direct theatre in Paris before becoming a screenwriter and film director at the beginning of the 1970s. Among his films are MY FAVOURITE SEASON (1993), WILD REEDS (1994) and THE WITNESSES (2007).

Filmography:
2012 - IN THE NAME OF MY DAUGHTER
2011 - UNFORGIVABLE
2009 - THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
2007 - THE WITNESSES
2004 - CHANGING TIMES
2003 - STRAYED
2001 - FAR
1998 - ALICE AND MARTIN
1996 - THIEVES
1994 - WILD REEDS
1993 - MY FAVOURITE SEASON
1991 - I DON'T KISS
1987 - THE INNOCENTS
1986 - SCENE OF THE CRIME
1985 - RENDEZ-VOUS
1983 - LA MATIOUETTE
1981 - HOTEL AMERICA
1979 - THE BRONTË SISTERS
1976 - BAROCCO
1975 - FRENCH PROVINCIAL
1969 - PAULINA IS LEAVING