Gabin documentary lands U.S. premiere at DOC NYC
The documentary GABIN receives its U.S. premiere at DOC NYC in the International Competition. The 105-minute feature completed in 2026 in France follows a single subject across ten years of life in northern rural settings.
In-person screenings take place Saturday, November 14 at 3:35 PM at IFC Center and include a post-screening Q&A with producer Cécile Lestrade. Virtual access runs November 15 through 29 via the festival platform.
In northern France the youngest member of the Jourdel family faces an expected path into his father’s butcher shop. Over the decade he weighs family obligations against personal goals that include training a contest cow, establishing a dog-breeding operation, and helping stabilize his mother’s farm finances while moving from age eight to eighteen.
GABIN world premiered at Cannes in the Quinzaine des Cineastes section and later appeared at Locarno’s Semaine de la Critique, IDFA, Busan, Melbourne, Quebec City, Athens, Vancouver, New Zealand and Bogota festivals.
Guy Lodge in Variety described the film as a “Marvelous Cannes Discovery” and “a remarkably fleet, fluent feat of observation and editing,” adding that Voiseux “sheds light on lives we wouldn’t otherwise see.” Lee Marshall of Screen Daily likened the condensed ten-year record to “a real-life Boyhood” that captures place, time and society alongside the central figure. Fabien Lemercier in Cineuropa noted “an impressively intimate realism, captured over a decade” and “a highly subtle mastery of suggestion and mise-en-scène.” DOC NYC senior programmer Murtada Elfadl wrote that the chronicle “perceptively tackles the growing up process head-on, beautifully showcasing how someone becomes able to make decisions, face responsibilities, and find their purpose” while the director’s “patient lens is attuned to the joys and vexes of everyday existence as well as the larger questions of maturing and moving on.”
Director Maxence Voiseux was born in the Ardennes in 1988. After initial studies in science he entered the Documentary Cinema programme at Paris VII University, where he trained in directing and editing. GABIN is his first feature-length film.
Writing and direction are credited to Maxence Voiseux. Cinematography was handled by François Chambe and Martin Roux. Sound recording was performed by Elton Rabineau and Ilù Seydoux, with sound design by Henry Sims and Ilù Seydoux and mixing by Maxence Ciekaway. Editing was completed by Pascale Hannoyer and Natali Barrey. Original music is by Nicolas Rabaeus. Production was led by Cécile Lestrade and Elise Hug of Alter Ego Production, with co-production from Ulla Lehmann of AMA Film, Palmyre Badinier of Rita Productions, and partners SWR/ARTE and RTS Radiotélévision Suisse.
The film features Gabin Jourdel, Patricia Jourdel, Dominique Jourdel, Lilou Duflos-Lamotte and Catherine Ranson.
