Dix-sept ans

Who ever said youth was the happiest time in life? According to Jean-Benoît, seventeen is the worst age possible. This young man is an apprentice to a car-mechanic. He longs to escape his “fucked up life“ – fatherless since the age of twelve and with a mother who seems to do nothing but whine. His dream: a job, his own car and nice little weekend-trips with his girlfriend. But reality soon catches up with Jean-Benoît: he hates his apprenticeship. He rebels against the system, closing up and refusing to cooperate with his master, his teacher and finally director Didier Nion. The film-project seems doomed to failure. Didier Nion accompanied Jean-Benoît over 27 months. The filmmaker and the young man’s often sweet, often contentious relationship evolves over the course of the film, as the filmmaker slowly becomes a stabilizing and caring force in the young man’s life. (DOK.fest München)