Currently on its final leg of filming in Guadeloupe, after a month in France, is the upcoming crime drama "Le Gang des Antillais" (lit. "Gang of West Indians") by director Jean-Claude Barny, which is described as "a highly original project" which tells the story of "four West Indians who arrive in mainland France in the 1970s and soon fall into a life of crime… an uncompromising nose-dive into the disillusioned France of the 1970s."

Synopsis: Jimmy Larivière is struggling to make ends meet, support his daughter and find his place in society. Meeting the Gang des Antillais, a group of idealist crooks, an exasperated community that has arrived in mainland France with the Bumidon (the Bureau for the Development of Migration in the Overseas Departments), triggers his rebellion. Jimmy gets tangled up in violence, friendship, rivalry and betrayal: a gun in hand, how can you not become a slave to easy money?

A loose adaptation of the novel of the same name by Loïc Léry, the solid cast includes Djedje Apali, Eriq Ebouaney, Adama Niane, Vincent Vermignon, Djibril Pavade, Zita Hanrot, Jocelyne Béroard, Lucien Jean Baptiste, Romane Bohringer, Mathieu Kassovitz, Julien Courbey, and Karim Belkhadra.

Eric Ebouaney may be the most familiar to readers in the west, given his strong performance in Raoul Peck’s "Lumumba" many years ago. Also writer/actor/director Mathieu Kassovitz ("La Haine," "Amelie" and more).

Director Jean-Claude Barny is directing from a script he adapted along with Philippe Bernard, Thomas Cheysson and Yves Nilly. 

The project is being produced by Les Films d’Ici, in collaboration with Special Touch Studio, Anaphi Studios and Lizland Films. 

The film will be distributed in French theatres by Happiness Distribution in 2016.

Jean-Claude Barny is a french filmmaker of Guadeloupean ancestry. This is his second feature film.

A project to keep an eye on, given the talent involved.