On a beach in the south of France, a young man called Ali spins over a high bar in an outdoor gym. With the grace of an aerial dancer and the fearlessness of a traceur, his rock-solid one-handed handstands look as if it is the world that is upside down. This modern-day acrobat introduces us to a new form of gymnastics, one that was born on the street. Freestyle calisthenics, or just “Freestyle” in France, is an undisciplined discipline that uses the body’s natural weight to build muscle and strength. For many, calisthenics is just a form of exercise. For young people like Ali, it is a form of expression that serves both the body and the mind.

“My obsession with communities of passionate people took me to the Prado beach in Marseille,” says director Julien Soulier of this episode of Portrait of a Place. “In this open-air gym, you can see normal people doing unusual things. Every training session is a family reunion. Ali, 22, is considered a French pioneer in the world of freestyle.

I've spent hours watching him spin around a metal bar and had the same question: How do his joints resist these movements? What's going on in this kid's head?

I first started to photograph him to document his daily life and then I went back with a VHS camera to find out more. The interviews and testimonies allowed me to build my narrative and the voice-over for Ali. I wanted to free myself from his raw performance and capture the poetry of his movement.

Through Ali's portrait, I wanted to show the emergence of a counter-culture but, above all, I wanted to film a youth that is moving against the flow. Ali is the symbol of a new generation that breaks free from codes to make their own. Thanks to the synergy of their meeting, these young people found meaning in their existence through a shared passion.”