Shirel Nataf, Fanta Kebe and Amel Bent, the three queens of Ma Frère

Meeting with the main heroines of the second feature film by the duo Lise Akoka-Romane Guéret, set in the heart of a summer camp in Drôme. A gem of a film.

Revealed by You preferthe web series by Romane Guéret & Lise Akoka (to watch on Arte.TV), Shirel Nataf and Fanta Kebe find their characters of Shaï and Djenaba and the duo of directors in My brotherpresented last May at the Cannes Film Festival and released this Wednesday in cinemas.

In this social comedy full of tenderness, the two kids from the working-class neighborhood of Place des Fêtes are now 19 years old and are propelled to become leaders of a summer camp run by Amel Bent. The famous singer returns to acting here four years after her last real role in the TV movie White sandalswhere she played mezzo-soprano Malika Bellaribi. Meeting with a trio of irresistible and very complicit actresses.

Fanta and Shirel, the first time that Lise Akoka and Romane Guéret come to tell you that they want to make a feature film with your characters from the web series You preferhow do you react?

Fanta Kebe: We were so happy, very excited and at the same time very stressed. It was a huge opportunity to have one of the lead roles, something we had never done before. We were afraid of disappointing Lise and Romane, but above all we wanted to make them proud and prove to ourselves that we were capable of it. And we couldn’t wait for it to start!

Shirel Nataf: And especially since Romane and Lise have known each other since we were 11 years old. So they put a lot of our personalities, what we exude and what we have gone through over all these years in life in our characters, Shai and Djeneba. So there is a real part of us in Shai and Djeneba, even if it remains fiction. We moved from adolescence to adulthood at the same time as our characters. And that is quite incredible to experience.

Amel, how is your arrival to you on My brother ? Are you regularly offered to act in the cinema?

Amel Bent: I had the chance to play in 2021 in White sandals by Etienne Faure. A very important TV film for me because it is inspired by a true story, that of Malika Bellaribi, a little girl from the Algerian slums of Nanterre who became a successful singer. I found it essential that this story be told and these words listened to. But I never had the ambition to be an actress. I have been approached several times but have always declined. Because I have a very full life with music and my children. Cinema can only exist for me if I have the opportunity to tell something that I cannot say otherwise, which does not necessarily have its place in my music or with my own language. Which is exactly what I felt when I read the script for My Brother. I laughed, I cried, and I told myself that I absolutely wanted to be part of this story. So I worked like crazy to succeed in these tests which brought together both established actresses and non-professionals. I didn’t really know where to place myself in that, because I’m known but not as an actress! In any case, I was overjoyed to land this role.

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On screen, we are struck by the complicity of all three of you. It feels like you’ve known each other forever. How did all this come together?

AB: I think everything happened naturally from my first day of rehearsal with Shirel. It was like a gush. I immediately understood how she, like Fanta, could have inspired My brother to Lise and Romane because they have all the fun, the emotion, the energy. The scenario and the dialogues were very well written but this realism starts from there and from the ability of Lise and Romane to know how to look at and learn from those they lead. Me like the others. But also their talent for telling an infinite number of stories in one, ensuring that everyone shines.

SN: I admit that I had some prejudices before meeting Amel. Because for me she is someone iconic so I saw her as inaccessible. I was afraid that she would look down on us a little, that she wouldn’t want to mingle with us. It was quite the opposite! And this from the first rehearsal that Amel spoke about where I was surprised by her shyness. And she gave us lots of advice about life throughout the filming. She became a kind of big sister to us.

AB: They even made me twerk! (laughs) Shirel and Fanta were my fountains of youth and gave me back my 20s! I think I was even the most dissipated of the three even though I was supposed to be the authority figure, due to my age and my role. (laughs)

Was it difficult to film with so many children in this summer camp?

FK: They have a lot of energy so it can complicate certain scenes, it’s true. But that’s the game! And what I remember most are the moments of laughter. We would have thought we were permanently in a real summer camp!

AB: These children have a lot to do with the very realistic side of the film. They are real actors because they emerged winners from a casting of 1,500 candidates, very hardworking since they do not play on their nature alone. But they’re still children. And where there are children, there is life, the unexpected, emotion…

SN: What was crazy was seeing how as soon as it came to learning their lines and shooting, they were no longer dissipated but immediately totally focused. I wasn’t like that at all at their age, I assure you! (laughs)

And we imagine that the three of you want to continue playing, right?

FK: Oh yes! Shirel and I started when we were 11 years old. Today we have 22. And it’s really a job that we want to continue doing by expanding our range of games to prove to ourselves that we can do it!

AB: But you’re going to do it, that’s for sure!

SN: We want psychopathic roles and films! (laughs)

AB: I say why not but the song remains my priority so it has to be to tell strong stories. (to Shirel and Fanta) Do you see me playing in a film again?

SN: Thoroughly! Especially with us. You must be faithful to us! (laughs) Amel, she arrived at rehearsal explaining that she was super stressed and didn’t know how to play. And straight away, she played better than us. So there’s not even a debate, she will continue!

My brother. By Lise Akoka and Romane Guéret. With Shirel Nataf, Fanta Kebe, Amel Bent… Duration: 1h52. Released February 7, 2025.