Tom Medina

“I was sent to live with a horse-breeder who looked like Charles Bronson with a scar. His name was Jeannot Cochet. That was the inspiration for this film. Tom Medina meets a master who teaches him all about life in the Camargue how to channel the violence he feels. He saves him. […] At the age of 13, as an undocumented runaway from Algeria, I was sleeping on the streets. Stealing. The police arrested me and handcuffed me. They asked me who I was. I was afraid they'd send me back if I gave them my real name. I told them I was Tony Gatlif. […] I sensed my life would change with that name. But I wondered what would happen to me. Go to prison? Work on construction sites? In the end, I made the right choice. It's my name now. The name of the person making this film. I fought destiny and I won. The plan destiny had laid out for me was poverty and injustice. My family was poor. The poorest of the poor. Stripped of everything, even their dignity. My father took a beating from the police right in front of me. That's this film: a kid changing his destiny.”