CUCKOONING

a film by Romain Epstein

18min - 2025 - France - Fiction

Synopsis
Yara, a third-generation French-Turkish from the Yilmaz family living in the same housing project on 8 May in Villejuif, has been unemployed for several years.
Confined to his home, he has never been able to find work or a social life again.
He remains stuck at home, struggling to cope with the constant criticism from his wife and daughter-in-law, who are going through an identity crisis.
His only escape is his model boats...
But life continues to torment him, as he has been forced to become the “home takeover” for the neighborhood drug dealer, keeping all the money from the trafficking for them without his family’s knowledge.
His fate is sealed when one day, curious delivery men arrive at his home, threatening to turn everything upside down...

Festivals and prizes
FIIDI FESTIVAL 2025 : Best actor for Walid Ben Mabrouk & Best Screenplay
Cognac Festival 2025
Hotmilk Cholet 2025