Event

What if, in a video game, you could finally become whoever you want? A doctor, a police officer, a taxi driver… or simply someone else. In Bac à sable, Charlotte Cherici and Lucas Azémar take us to Los Santos, a fictional but vibrant city built on the servers of GTA V. Here, players from around the world reenact real life, with its dreams, rules… and flaws.

This captivating 58-minute documentary introduces us to a community that creates its own stories and tries to imagine a better society, in a universe where anything seems possible. But behind the avatars and backdrops, the inequalities, tensions, and discriminations of the real world resurface. Through funny, touching, and sometimes unsettling scenes, the film asks: can we reinvent the world in a virtual space?

Bac à sable is the first film by these two young filmmakers. Charlotte Cherici, who has worked as an editor for Virgil Vernier and Brieuc Schieb, and Lucas Azémar, awarded by the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, offer an intimate and clear-eyed look at youth searching for meaning. The film has been screened multiple times and notably received a special jury mention at Cinéma du Réel (2023), as well as official selections at festivals such as Côté Court (2023), Olhar de Cinema in Curitiba (2024), and the Milan Machinima Festival (2025).

After the screening, a discussion moderated by a facilitator and featuring the director, Lucas Azémar, will give you the chance to share your impressions, question the film’s themes, and explore what video games reveal about us and our society.