Private Project

TEEN TRIBE

‘Teen Tribe’ is an intimate 30-minute documentary about two Franco-American adolescent brothers and their tribe of friends growing up in Manhattan. They talk movingly and freely about issues of adolescence such as drugs, alcohol, their first love, their friendships, their challenges, and their metamorphosis.

‘A photograph is a Secret about a Secret’ says Diane Arbus. The adolescents engage in an honest conversation as they reminisce on souvenirs evoked by the images they peruse from the 'Nicolas & Adrien' book of the mother-photographer Martine Fougeron, later to be published by Steidl Verlag, who has been photographing her sons and their group of friends from the age of 13 to 17-when this film was realized- as they were leaving their high school friends and embarking for college.

This short documentary film was realized in 2010 and never released. It previewed in gallery spaces only, in conjunction with Martine Fougeron's exhibitions. It seems to not have wrinkled a bit, as this young tribe seems to be ageless. This is why Martine is submitting it now, after the release of her award-winning short documentary 'Summertime a Esparon' in 2023.

It seems like the right time for Fougeron to release this secret film today in 2025, 15 years after, as the contagious free spirit of this timeless adolescence seems to be questioned today.
Contrary to most documentaries on youth, which are ridden with violence and abuse, TEEN TRIBE exudes contagious positive energy that invites adolescents and adults alike to share in the teenagers’ ageless existential and essential quests and questionings.

  • Martine Fougeron
    Director
    Summertime a Esparon
  • Martine Fougeron
    Writer
    Summertime a Esparon
  • Martine Fougreon
    Producer
    Summertime a Esparon
  • Laurent Vacher
    Producer
    16 x 9 Collective
  • Florence Carrie
    Editor
  • Nicolas de Mones
    Key Cast
  • Adrien de Mones
    Key Cast
  • Paul Gondry
    Key Cast
  • Lolita Cros
    Key Cast
  • Zoe Albert
    Key Cast
  • Amandla Siblot
    Key Cast
  • Quentin
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    31 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 15, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    2 RED Cameras
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Martine Fougeron

Martine Fougeron is a French-American fine art photographer and film director living and working between New York, Paris and Esparon in the South of France whose work has been exhibited internationally and is held in major museums and private collections.

Fougeron's award-winning fine art photography project "Nicolas & Adrien" offers an intimate portrait of the lives of her two adolescent sons and their group of friends, over a period of 14 years. Fougeron has mounted solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia and her work has been exhibited internationally in China, France, Italy, South Korea, and Switzerland. Fougeron’s first monograph Nicolas & Adrien was published by Steidl in February of 2020.

In dialogue with her own work around the landscape of adolescence, Fougeron is presently working on her vast family archive. She just finished directing a short film "Summertime à Esparon". The film is based on her father and grandfather's archive of 16 mm film, Kodachrome slides and B&W negatives. A family novel in pictures which unfolds from the 1950s to the present day over four generations. The film has been awarded as best documentary in prestigious Festivals.

Fougeron is also an arts educator. She is the founder of "The Photography Master Retreat" - a one-week mentor-led intensive workshop in Esparon after Les Rencontres d'Arles in July of each year. Fougeron is on the faculty of the International Center of Photography in New York.

Fougeron’s work has been featured in publications such as The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The WSJ Magazine, New York Magazine, The Guardian, FT Week End and Vice.

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