IRON BOY

France, Belgium | 2026 | 90′
11+
In French with Slovenian and English subtitles

ABOUT THE FILM

In rural France, Christophe (11) tries to live up to his rigid, distant father on the family farm. But the young boy starts to lean over and collapse without warning, on the tractor, at school, at dinner. A doctor finds the solution: Christophe must wear an iron corset to keep himself upright. Forced to reinvent his life away from the farm, he discovers a new passion for music, meets a new friend, and follows her into his first mischief. But will any of this really fix what is out of balance?

CREW

Directed by: Louis Clichy
Written by: Louis Clichy, Franck Salomé
Art Director: Cécile Guillard
Animation Director: Chloë Aubert
Editing: Vincent Tricon
Sound Editor: Selim Azazi
Producers: Céline Vanlint, Nicolas de Rosanbo
Production: Eddy Cinéma, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, Beside Productions
Cast: Gary Clichy, Rod Paradot, Dimitri Colas, Aurélie Vassort, Brune Moulin, Alexandre Astier, Jean-Pascal Zadi
Distribution in Slovenia: Fivia

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Christophe is a character I wanted to keep mysterious. You don’t understand everything that happens to him right away, but piece by piece, as the film unfolds. The family reticence he has inherited slowly loosens, and he begins to find his voice. I also wanted him to be slight and unremarkable, not the stereotypical farm boy, but not a completely withdrawn kid either.

What interested me above all was that transition, which I find deeply mysterious, from childhood to adolescence. You feel a desire for elsewhere, a longing for something other, new impulses, while still clinging to the things of childhood. A kind of innocence survives, but it is destined to fade.

The corset then becomes the expression of a body in transformation, one we are not yet comfortable with. I found it interesting to explore that metamorphosis, intensified by this physical constraint. By definition, entering adolescence is already a physiological constraint.

Finding the film’s visual signature was not easy, because I didn’t want to soften what the region actually is: a flat land with enormous power lines, rare patches of woodland, square enclosed farmsteads built to shelter from the wind. That aspect is revealing: it mirrors a kind of social withdrawal too. I quickly realised that even though I was more comfortable in black and white, I would have to introduce colour, something vivid and fairly vibrant, because there were seasons to tell. Watercolour then seemed interesting to me: large white reserves, vast skies, a clean horizon line. The skies are what brings enormous richness to the image.

AWARDS AND FESTIVALS (SELECTION)

  • Jury Award, Audience Award, Annecy IAFF 2026
  • Un Certain Regard – Special Jury Prize, Cannes FF 2026
  • San Sebastián Audience Award, San Sebastián IFF 2026
  • Special Jury Prize, FIFF Namur 2026
  • Centrepiece Program, Toronto IFF 2026
  • World Cinema, BIFF, South Korea, 2026