The Yamakasi are a group of young thrill seekers of different ethnic backgrounds who are all dedicated to parkour. They live in France in a banlieue, a ghetto especially designed for paupers and traditionally inhabited by immigrants from former French colonies. The motley group uses their sport to enjoy themselves without drugs and to gain recognition in a peaceful way. One morning, they are reported buildering the east side of the Bleuets building and evading the police after that. While they consider themselves good examples for youths in the banlieue, the local chief of police feels otherwise. From his point of view, they are reckless and dangerous individuals prone to become criminals while one of his men, Inspector Vincent Asmine believes they are dangerous only because children could hurt themselves by trying to emulate them. On this occasion each single member is introduced through his birth name and alias to the spectators of the film too: Zicmu (Ousmane Dadjacan), Tango (Jean-Michel Lucas), Rocket (Abdou N'Goto), the Spider (Bruno Duris), the Weasel (Malik N'Diaye), Baseball (Oliver Chen), and Sitting Bull (Ousmane Bana).