Maxence Voiseux's 'Gabin' Follows a Boy for Ten Years, Screened at Cannes 2026

Maxence Voiseux's documentary 'Gabin' premieres at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight. Shot over ten years in a village near Arras, northern France, the film follows Gabin Jourdel from age 8 to 18. Gabin is torn between his mother Patricia's failing dairy farm and his father Dominique's butcher shop, which he has run for 30 years. Voiseux captures intimate family dynamics without voyeurism, using a nearly invisible camera in 4:5 format. Gabin, born premature and sensitive, dreams of working with live animals, preferring to care for cows and a pet calf. He resists his father's pressure to take over the butcher business. As he grows, Gabin experiments with his appearance and considers dog breeding. Ultimately, he decides to move to Canada, fulfilling his mother's old dream. Meanwhile, Patricia studies psychogenealogy, and Dominique retires to a monastery in the Gard region. The film explores themes of transmission, generational rupture, and the clash between material and spiritual inheritance.