A regular housing estate with no specific problems wakes up one morning in a state of siege after learning that a 16-year-old resident, Abdel, is between life and death after being injured by a police inspector. Three of his friends wander around the city, waiting for news about his well-being.

Mathieu Kassovitz was just 27 when he rose to prominence for directing this provocative urban odyssey. Casting a searing look at police brutality and marginal lives on the brutal outskirts of Paris, La haine marked a prescient, full-throttle entry in the now ubiquitous banlieue film.