Just Riadh: what true story inspired the film Under the stars?

An extraordinary journey

Alessandro Clemenza

Under the stars retraces the journey of Yazid Ichemrahen, who, after growing up in a foster family and in hostels, fell in love with pastry at the age of 14.

He trained, notably as an apprentice, with chocolate maker Pascal Caffet – Meilleur Ouvrier de France and World Pastry Champion –, pastry chefs Angelo Musa – World Pastry Champion in 2003 and MOF pastry in 2007 – and Philippe Conticini as well as at the school of Joël Robuchon. Yazid Ichemrahen won the title of World Frozen Dessert Champion in 2014.

He returned to his journey in two books: A star child’s dream – How pastry saved his life and educated himAnd Create to survive, live not to sink.

Genesis

Alessandro Clemenza

À la belle étoile was born under the impetus of associate producers Laurence Lascary and Lahoucine Grimich, who had discovered the career of Yazid Ichemrahen via an article on the show’s website. Click of Mouloud Achour, where Ichemrahen presented his latest book. Lascary and Grimich bought the rights to bring it to the screen. Cédric Ido wrote the screenplay and was to direct the film but, busy with another project, he left his place to Sébastien Tulard.

He was then hospitalized. He was recovering from cancer: “At that time, I had only one thing in mind: to get out of there to start working on the film. I had, thanks to this project, the best rehabilitation to recover. The script was wonderful, he touched me a lot.”

Just Riadh

Alessandro Clemenza

The director returns to the casting of Riadh in the main role: “During his casting, I felt a lot of empathy. He made a proposal full of awkwardness. I still don’t know if it was intended or not, but I loved it. I think we were on the same wavelength. The way he dictated his text, it was exactly the tone I expected. He didn’t know where to position himself, it was very intelligent. He had to play a young person who walks into a kitchen for the first time. He was a little clumsy and even his way of addressing the boss was out of step.”

The actor, better known by his influencer pseudonym, Just Riadh, finds his first major role in cinema with À la belle étoile. We have seen it before in 30 days max and La Bonne conduct. His first casting was for Hors norms, the film by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano: “I loved the exercise, I realized it was exactly what I wanted to do.” He went to castings for three years, hoping to land a role and devote himself fully to a project. On the Cannes red carpet in 2021, he was approached by producer Lahoucine Grimich, who told him about À la belle étoile. “I was convinced that I had to make this film. The story is crazy, and it is true. Putting myself in the shoes of a pastry chef, training to better embody it, it was brilliant. ”

Learning

Alessandro Clemenza

For Riadh, going from content creator, where he controls everything, to actor, was a real challenge that took him out of his comfort zone: “This time, I was forced to let myself be guided, to trust and to rely on a large team (direction, production, management, etc.). All of a sudden, I became the small link in ‘a big channel. That’s what I liked best about the experience: composing together. That’s why cinema is magic for me.

The actor has trained in pastry but also in ice sculpture for the needs of the film. “They sent me to laboratories, where, surrounded by other students, I learned and soaked up the atmosphere, the movements, the gestures.”