Documentary
90 min
Language : french
Quebec, Canada, 2012
Production : Jeannine Gagné (Amazone Film)

For Danny, Alex, Mickerson and Michael, music is an outlet, a form of expression, and a necessity of life. Ma vie réelle is a portrait of four people in transition and a microcosm of a misunderstood Montreal neighbourhood. It is a social documentary that takes an honest look at dropouts, delinquency, rites of passage and what it means to be a parent.

Drugs, delinquency, dysfunctional families, abandonment, poverty: “real life” is tough for young people in Montréal-Nord. Magnus Isacsson followed four teens from the impoverished area for 18 months, capturing not only their problems but their immense energy and will to escape. At the heart of their struggle is rap: raw, sincere, potent music that speaks for the disenfranchised. With his rare ability to get close to his subjects and remarkable sensitivity, without a trace of pathos, Isacsson put his subjects’ self-expression front and centre, resulting in one of his finest films. Four unforgettable portraits of four people who share the filmmaker’s generosity of spirit.