Wasteland

For the rebellious youngsters on a deprived Parisian housing estate, home is not a tiny room in a cramped apartment but a place amongst the shattered ruins of a derelict factory on a barren wasteland nearby. Their true family are not the dreary grown-ups who abuse and threaten them, but the other members of their gang, who are united in open rebellion against the adult world. The leader of the gang is Dan, a strong-headed teenage girl, almost a woman, who has earned the respect of her rough male cohorts. Babar is the gang’s latest eager recruit, although it is with trepidation that he faces the daunting initiation test. All is well until a hot-headed juvenile, Marcel, pushes his way into the gang, having escaped from a youth rehabilitation centre.