In the realm of dirt bike racing, the term “block pass” describes when you obstruct someone’s path with your bike and body, effectively standing in their way. It serves as a fitting metaphor for the portrayal of blood brothers grappling with the challenges of adulthood that surround them. Among the seven films chosen for this year’s Critics’ Week competition section, we get onto the muddy tracks and fragmented teenage-moving-into adulthood world in the debut feature of French filmmaker Antoine Chevrollier. In La Pampa, also known as Block Pass, young actors Sayyid El Alami and Amaury Foucher take the lead roles in a coming-of-age drama set in the muddy tracks of suburbia. The film delves into the intense realm of rebellion, shame, and unaddressed pain — its high stakes when you can’t find the words or ability to express yourself.
In the exclusive clip, we find childhood friends Willy and Jojo testing just how far they can go — its the introductory sequence of the film that adds layers of details to why one might have one might be more reckless, while the other might more geared towards risk assessment. Block Pass will have its world premiere on Monday, May 20th. Here is our exclusive first look:
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
