Cineuropa:
w
as a long time in the making. What drew you to this story revolving around a serial killer?
Peter Dourountzis
: I lived in Paris in the 1990s, where at least three serial killers were on the rampage. I went on to study film, and later decided to investigate the matter further by putting myself forward for Parisâs emergency SAMU Social service so as to get access to their database, given that two of the three killers dialled 115 every day in search of accommodation. I liked the SAMU Social, it was something of a vocation for me, and in the end I worked with them for 15 years. I left for the first time after 6 years, to make short films, and then I combined the two, working for them whilst directing my first feature film. Iâd also been shocked by the fact that whilst, as a 16-year-old boy in Paris, you feel relatively safe at night-time, women are a lot more vulnerable. Lots of my female friends would tell me about how theyâd been attacked or raped. Almo
film profile]) without falling into the trap of complacency was far from a safe bet, but Peter Dourountzis had several cards up his sleeve to help keep his film hanging on a knife edge. Drawing on the years he spent working within the French SAMU Social (a structure providing support to excluded persons), the filmmaker has endowed
Rascal with a very realistic social dimension to underpin its thriller exterior, immersing himself in the underbelly of urban Paris with real credibility. This is a world on the fringes of society, replete with train station thugs, workers contending with extreme precariousness, people sleeping rough or hiding in launderettes, and squatters and activists seizing basic necessities. But the director has the decency to keep any violence off camera and, crucially, the film benefits from a top-drawer actor in the form of