FIFCL had the pleasure of organizing an exceptional meeting with the team behind the Belgian series Baraki. This special event provided an opportunity to go back behind the scenes of the shooting, the writing of the script and the reception of the public. The creators, actors and technicians shared anecdotes and production secrets during the meeting, offering festival-goers a unique immersion into the world of the series. The festival also broadcast an exclusive episode of season 2.
Baraki, the simple word originally used to describe the showmen and inhabitants of the miners’ barracks, has come a long way since then. The series of the same name, released this year and produced by RTBF among others, highlights this home-grown stereotype. “It’s almost a national sport to define baraki. Some definitions are darker, others brighter. In our case, we’ve opted for the enhancement of baraki. We see him as a big-hearted person who doesn’t give a damn about how others look at him,” explains Julien Vargas, the series’ scriptwriter.
Baraki immerses viewers in the Berthet family living in Marsoux. Each episode lasts 26 minutes, during which the actors make us laugh both with their looks and their Baraki logic for dealing with certain problems. “Just because you’re baraki doesn’t mean you’re stupid. It’s a bourgeois judgment to consider that. For example, I’ve been in a fight in the square, and that day I was a baraki. But I’m not a full-time baraki. We can have phases of baraki,” says Pierre Nisse, the actor who plays Didier Berthet in the series.
This series is also a good cure for understanding how to rise above the gaze of others. All the characters have endearing personalities in which we can project ourselves.