French YouTube sensation Sébastien Frit, more commonly known as Seb or Seb La Frite, was at the Cannes Film Festival last weekend for the premiere of his new introspective feature film Trente (Thirty).
Seb is a videographer and content creator, who has been active on YouTube since 2012 and has amassed 5.84 million subscribers since then. He started off by making face-to-face comedy videos before evolving to create exploration documentaries like Seb In Papua (2020), Seb In Kyrgyzstan (2023), and his latest travel documentary Trente.
Produced by Seb’s production company Olibrius, Trente is a personal exploration of what it means to turn 30, an age that is often a turning point or a milestone where expectations, responsibilities, and one’s sense of identity become more defined.
Trente premiered in a special screening at Olympia Cinema as part of the Cannes Marché du Film on May 16, which was followed by a theatrical release in France on May 18 and 19 through the YouTube Ciné-Club by mk2.
In a special French episode of On The Go With Deadline, Seb revealed the inspiration behind making the deeply personal film at this stage in his life, “I’ve always been very touched by the documentary genre. The reality of it affects me deeply. On top of that, I love telling myself that I can go meet people and capture unplanned moments. I find that there’s something imperfect and touching about people in their real life.”
He added: “Also, having to tell a somewhat intimate story, I know there are films that have been in Cannes, but are much older, like Tarnation, which is about people with VHS tapes and raw footage. I find that it tells a story that is sincere and authentic. And I just realized, I never had a diary, even when I was a child. And I thought to myself, why don’t I do that? And what if I try, for the first time in my life, to take notes and do a little review and see, understand what it means to grow up and how I want to grow up.”
Having made Trente on the verge of turning 30 after discovering an old video of himself as a teenager talking to his future 30-year-old self, Seb reflected on the advice he would give his younger self at 15-years-old.
“I don’t like to live with regrets. So I would say, ‘Carry on, even if it seems weird,’” said Seb.
Check out the full interview above.
