Yamakasi

Seven young men from a Paris housing estate have turned the city's walls, roofs and bridges into a playground. Calling themselves the Yamakasi, they have developed their own discipline, the art of displacement, which involves climbing buildings, leaping between them and moving through the air with speed and control. Each has a specialty: one is a gifted thrower, another moves as if on wires, one is a darting escape artist, one draws energy from music, and one is simply the fastest. Young people across the city admire them and try to copy their moves, while local authorities see them as a nuisance. When a boy is badly hurt attempting the same feats, the group feels responsible for his medical costs. To raise the money, they put their skills to use outside the law, drawing police attention in the process.

Directed by Ariel Zeitoun and Julien Seri, the film was Zeitoun's first feature, followed later in his career by Masked Mobsters and Angélique, while Seri went on to Night Fare, Darkness Falls and Kali: Avenging Angel. Luc Besson co-wrote the screenplay with Seri and Philippe Lyon. The cast is drawn largely from the original Yamakasi traceurs, including Châu Belle Dinh, Williams Belle, Malik Diouf, Yann Hnautra, Guylain N'Guba-Boyeke and Charles Perrière, who play characters based on their own nicknames and abilities. Made for around 7 million dollars, the film took roughly 1 million worldwide, a small return against its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.1 out of 10 from about 14,000 votes, and on TMDB 6 out of 10 from just over 600.