Nike Backed Sports Doc Follows Path to Paris 2024

Passion and pride take the podium in the upcoming documentary “Crois Pas Qu’on Dort” (French for “Don’t Think We’re Sleeping”). An underdog story par excellence, the doc follows three working-class athletes as they ready for glory at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Variety can share the trailer (below).

Directed by Nick Walters and Lou Marillier, the film follows three athletes over the course of five years and countless achievements, embedding with Charles-Antoine, a runner with an intellectual disability who won Gold at the Tokyo Paralympics and will compete in this year’s Paralympics, and with Leyna and Maysane, twin sisters and heirs to their Laotian-Algerian family’s taekwondo dynasty.

“We wanted to tell a coming-of-age story through the prism of sports,” say directors Nick Walters and Lou Marillier. “We worked collaboratively with Leyna, Maysane and Charles-Antoine as they navigated a tumultuous five-year period, facing challenges that will impact the rest of their lives in profound ways. Through the unfiltered access they granted us, we feel we have been able to capture something honest and specific to them that we hope can also speak to many other people.”

Developed and produced by Pi Studios and by French powerhouse shingle SRAB Films, the film explores many of the working-class suburbs seen in Ladj Ly’s award-winning “Les Misérables,” which was also produced by SRAB Films. The project will feature new music from local hip-hop icon Tiakola.

With support from Nike, Pi Studios has also introduced the “Crois Pas Qu’on Dort” pledge, dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting underrepresented filmmakers and to diversifying film crews.

“This is the most important story we’ve ever told,” says Pi Studios founder Alex Bennett-Grant. “This is also the longest project we’ve ever undertaken, leading to the most deep and trusting partnership with our incredible cast, directors and producers. Kudos also to Nike who funded the film then gave us the freedom to not only tell these true stories, but also support the launch with full entertainment force so it can move a lot of people.”

The film will premiere in January 2025, and is set for limited release.