The feature doc BOYZ, fully financed and ready for delivery at the beginning 2023, concerns three male friends on the cusp of adulthood reflecting on matters such as sexuality and masculinity.
The film may be Munich-based but much of it is English-language given that the three 20-year-olds (Maxime, Julian and Vilas) are London school friends now pursuing their education in Germany. But Maxime is the younger brother of German director Sylvain Cruiziat, hence the sense of intimacy evident in the teaser footage they presented during DOK Leipzig. While Maxime is still a virgin and Vilas is shy, Julian both enjoys [but denies] his reputation as a “fuck boy,” and their subsequent conversations and exchanges, both among themselves and their group of friends, is in equal part, engaging, illuminating and touching.
As the filmmakers say (the project was co-presented by producer Jonas Egert), “this verité documentary captures candid and intimate moments of male friendships and vulnerabilities hidden behind the shield of still dominating masculine images, which are slowly but surely being renegotiated.”
“When my little brother moved in with me, I saw how differently and how progressively they were tackling these questions, how they were able to openly talk about them,” says Cruiziat, who concedes that when he was younger he found the process of addressing such matters quite difficult. “I think that socially it’s very important to talk about it and to open up…Those formative years, sexually but also in [terms of] experience, can have so many negative impacts if they’re suppressed, or if they’re addressed at a later stage in life. So that’s why I think it’s very important to talk openly talk about these issues.”
This is not a film about disaffected youths finding meaning by living drug-fuelled extreme lives, such as in Joonas Neuvonen’s Reindeerspotting (Norway). In BOYZ the subjects are altogether more stable, clued in and considered. “They are model citizens in that sense, which was important to us,” explains Cruiziat.
The production is also targeting a younger demographic who may see the protagonists as “role models,” says producer Jonas Egert, who also flags up the film’s visual vibrancy. “There’s also very many light and humble and fun moments which make the film, we think, very accessible. It’s also entertaining for a broad audience, especially through the very cinematic and very bold camera language.”
The filmmakers argue that their film fits into a wide spectrum of diverse storytelling, but with a “special view” of their subject, mindful that they are part of a pluralistic film community. “Like not doing it how they did over the last 40 or 50 years when stories were only told from the man’s perspective.”
The filmmakers are in post-production on their film and are eyeing up festivals in early 2023 that have a strong youth focus in their programmes. “We really want young audiences to see this film and we want to raise awareness, and continue this progression of changing masculine role models,” concludes Egert.
