"Someone solar, who had confidence in his country (…). He had a beautiful horizon ahead of him. A kid from Meudon who wanted to eat the world. This is Antoine Chevrollier's portrait of Malik Oussekine, a student beaten to death by the police on the night of December 5 to 6, 1986. Available from May 11 on Disney +, the Disney Oussekine series reports the before, the during and the after of this terrible drama. Present at the launch press conference, JustFocus answers all your questions.
What is Oussekine?
The French mini-series of 4 episodes produced by Disney + and directed by Antoine Chevrollier stars Sayyid El Alami (Malik), Hiam Abbass (Aicha, his mother), Malek Lamraoui and Tewfik Jallab (the brothers), Naidra Ayadi and Mouna Soualem (the sisters) and other actors. She tells for the first time on screen the tragic events that led to the death of Malik Oussekine, through the eyes of his family. Although based on the very fact of the death of the young man, the series focuses more on the reception of grief and the fight of the family. It is indeed the story of a family that suffers the loss of a member under state and media violence while the Malik affair becomes a state affair that political parties are snatching up. The actors insist on the fact that they do not seek to imitate the Oussekine family but to give soul to the people they interpret through their bodies of actors and the talent of the director.
Malik, an authentic portrait?
Although the case was well documented at the time it occurred, Antoine Chevrollier says he knew very little Malik at the beginning of his research. He enjoyed getting to know him through his family because it made the portrait more authentic. 
Thus, according to the cast and members of the director, Malik was an exceptional young man. He had before him a remarkable future that was violently torn from him: "Student of Franco-Algerian origin, he was someone solar, who had confidence in himself and his country and who did not ask himself the question of social determinism. He was deeply intelligent and had a thousand questions. He had a lot of humor and awareness of who he was. He had a beautiful horizon ahead of him. He was just a little kid from Meudon who wanted to eat the world." This is the portrait that the director tries to draw in the Disney series Oussekine.
Where did the idea to make the series come from?
Just 13 years old, the attention of director Antoine Chevrollier is attracted by the name of Malik Oussekine, mentioned in the album of the group Assassin. Almost 20 years later, still concerned about this name, he decided to make a mini-series on the facts of that famous night. Then follows an immense research work whose starting point was the death of Malik Oussekine until the deepening on the before and after. From the beginning, Antoine Chevrollier knew that he wanted to be accompanied by the family and accessed step by step each of the members.
Is the Oussékine family in favour of the project?
This is the question we always ask ourselves before watching a series based on a real story and it's normal. Rest assured, for the Disney Oussekine series, things were done in good and due form: the project was validated and supervised by the family. Although it is scattered everywhere, Antoine Chevrollier managed to contact Malik Oussekine's living family. Some members wanted to stay at a distance despite their validation while others were very present on the set. 
The actors told many anecdotes about the family's visits to the set. For example, Ben Amar and Mohamed called some actors by the names of their characters and not by their real names. Sayyid, Malik's actor, says they spent a lot of time discussing life, like big brothers with their little brother, but rarely mentioned Malik. All the actors present agreed that the validation of the family members, and the enthusiasm they showed for the project, was more important than all the research carried out upstream. They were reassured to know that the story was not only being used for personal and commercial purposes. Why make a series about this drama? For those involved in the creation of the Disney Oussekine series, it was a way to do justice to Malik Oussekine. Implicitly, it is also a tribute to all the young people whose history has been silenced until today. In a sense, it's even a responsibility for everyone involved, because the show may be an opportunity for the audience to find answers to taboo questions they may have. A little naively, they hope that this will prevent other Maliks from being killed. And if not, that it will at least open the floor on the subject since it will inform other young people of a situation that has been forgotten, erased from French history. It is also about giving visibility to the case for the very first time. It is an indispensable part of understanding France and the absence of justice tells a feeling of exclusion that prevents healing the wounds of the past. The trials of this family are part of decades of France's history. With this series, the members of the production want to take a step back to show that the story continues until today. It's about healing transgenerational wounds. Finally, to make the Disney Oussekine series exist is to participate in the duty of memory.
And Disney's role in all this?
The production process was very simple, it seems. Antoine Chevrollier was contacted by Itinéraire Productions and then by Disney FR, to work together on a project of his choice. He immediately mentioned the Oussekine project, which was validated: "The whole Disney + team France understood my intentions and validated them, the process was very fluid," reports the director. The members of the production team did not feel like they were working with such a big brand since the Disney teams on a daily basis were ideal and accompanied them with kindness, in writing, production and post-production. They were also pleasantly surprised by Disney's risk-taking, which trusted them and allowed the opening of a breach for other films of this genre. For Antoine Chevrollier, this required a form of courage because before that, the situation was reduced to "we can do it, but no one does it".
Finally, a shooting anecdote?
The actors said Antoine Chevrollier summoned them one by one to his office to show them a briefcase belonging to Malik. It was the one Malik used daily and was entrusted to them by the family. It was filled with personal belongings: broken watch, school report card… And it allowed everyone to put things back in their frame and give Malik back his humanity. And that's it behind the scenes of the new Disney Oussekine series, available on Disney + from May 11! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask it on our Twitter page or in the comments!
