Photo : Rayane Mcirdi, capture d’écran du film « Joyeuse retraite papa », 2026 © Rayane Mcirdi © Adagp, Paris, 2026
"Happy Retirement Dad", an exhibition between documentary and fiction
Rayane Mcirdi builds his films from stories, memories, and anecdotes collected from his family, loved ones, and the inhabitants of Asnières-sur-Seine and Gennevilliers, where he grew up. Nourished by the narratives that run through his family between Algeria and France, he stages these words with great cinematic precision, turning these ordinary stories into material where the intimate and the collective intersect.
Frac Île-de-France, Le Plateau (Paris 19th)
About
Opening: Wednesday 09.23.26, from 6 pm to 9 pm
Curator: Céline Poulin
His films give substance to rarely told memories and offer—far from conventional representations of the suburbs—narratives marked by solidarity, contradictions, dreams of elsewhere, humor, and family bonds. What is at play is always singular, but resonates far beyond the people filmed.
From one film to another, Rayane Mcirdi explores what is transmitted between generations, how an identity is constructed between multiple heritages, the bonds that unite individuals to those who preceded them, to a territory and a common memory, but also the moments when a life tilts and a new horizon opens up. Conceived especially for Le Plateau, the exhibition version of his new film Le dernier jour de Dino (Dino's Last Day) unfolds throughout the space in the form of a journey composed of several chapters, extended by scenes that echo from one room to another.
Inspired by the story of the artist's father, the film takes us into an apparently ordinary day: the day a worker finally leaves the factory after forty years of work. Between the last gestures performed at his station, the complicity that unites colleagues, and the return to his loved ones, this suspended day gradually reveals what it means to leave a world to which one has devoted a whole life. This moment of transition becomes the starting point for a sensitive narrative where solidarity, tenderness, nostalgia, and unspoken feelings intertwine, until, behind this family portrait, a profoundly universal experience emerges.
Beyond the end of a career, Rayane Mcirdi films with delicacy a pivotal moment where generations intersect and where everyone tries to find their place in the face of what is ending, as well as what remains to be transmitted.
Rayane Mcirdi
Rayane Mcirdi was born in 1993 in Asnières-sur-Seine. He lives and works in Gennevilliers and is represented by the Anne Barrault gallery in Paris. A 2019 graduate of the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris, Rayane Mcirdi presented his first solo exhibition in 2021 at the Galerie Édouard Manet in Gennevilliers.
He has participated in several group exhibitions at La Villette, the CENTQUATRE, and Les Magasins Généraux. The artist presented the Croissant de feu (Crescent of Fire) trilogy at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2023, as part of the “Cinéma prospectif” cycle. In 2024, his film Après le soleil (After the Sun) was screened at the Quinzaine des Cinéastes in Cannes and broadcast on Arte. His film Le Jardin (The Garden) (2021) is part of the Frac Île-de-France collection.
Coproduction: Frac Île-de-France & Passerelle, contemporary art center of national interest, Brest.
Film production delegation: Don Quichotte Films.
With the support of the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée and the City of Paris.
With the participation of ARTE France and the support of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture & Doha Film Institute.
The exhibition was produced with the support of the Institut français, as part of the Mediterranean Season 2026.
Forthcoming tour of the exhibition: Passerelle Contemporary Art Center of National Interest, Brest.
Our take on this event
Stepping away from four decades on the factory floor is a profound life pivot, captured here with rare cinematic delicacy. Blending documentary truth with storytelling, this exhibition examines the intimate legacy passed between generations during moments of transition. It is a deeply human observation of how we let go of one world to embrace the next.
Le Plateau presents 'Joyeuse retraite papa', an exhibition by artist Rayane Mcirdi blending documentary and fiction. Through his new film, 'Le dernier jour de Dino', the artist explores the emotional transition of a factory worker retiring after forty years of service. The installation examines themes of family inheritance, identity, and the turning points that define a lifetime. It is a profound look at human connections beyond the workplace. The exhibition is free to attend and fully accessible to wheelchair users as well as deaf or hard-of-hearing visitors.
From October 2, 2026, to February 21, 2027, Le Plateau hosts a new exhibition by Rayane Mcirdi. The show serves as an immersive expansion of his latest film, 'Le dernier jour de Dino', organized into chapters that guide visitors through the gallery space. The work captures the final day of an industrial worker's forty-year career, exploring the subtle shifts in identity, nostalgia, and family bonds that accompany such a life-changing moment. The opening reception is scheduled for September 23, 2026, from 18:00 to 21:00.
Rayane Mcirdi, born in 1993, creates narratives that move past conventional depictions of suburbs, focusing instead on solidarity and generational transmission. His work, supported by organizations such as the CNC and the City of Paris, bridges the gap between individual history and universal experience. This exhibition is a coproduction between the Frac Île-de-France and the Passerelle art center in Brest.
Located at 22 rue des Alouettes in the 19th arrondissement, the gallery welcomes visitors from Wednesday to Sunday, between 14:00 and 19:00. Admission is free. The venue provides full accessibility for wheelchair users and offers specific provisions for deaf or hard-of-hearing guests.
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