Speak Up (A voix haute)

Every year at the University of Saint-Denis, the Eloquentia competition is held to decide “The Best Orator in the 93”, a reference to the number of the Seine-Saint-Denis département.

Students following any course can participate, and prepare with the help of professional advisors including lawyers, slammers, and directors, who teach them the delicate exercise of public speaking. Over the weeks, they learn the subtle mechanisms of rhetoric, and will affirm their talents, revealing themselves to others, and above all, to themselves.

“Although the contest is the film’s endgame, it’s the journey we take with these hopeful orators that leaves the lasting impression. Their tales of homelessness, immigration and cancer fuel the speeches they deliver with unquestionable passion, but it’s what they do with their past traumas that truly inspires.” ~Chris Tse, NZIFF

“Without sentimentality, Speak Up proves how the art of speech is key to universal understanding, social ascension, and personal revelation.” ~New York Film Festival