When I was 14, construction works started in my middle school, to build a new gym. In the meantime, me and the other girls had to change in a temporary building adjacent to the construction site. One day, one of the teachers walked in and told us that the construction workers were peeping at us through the windows, and we had to be careful. That was it.
Every ten years or so, a French film is released, with the goal of portraying the real lives of black Frenchs. The characters always go through awful struggles and live in what filmmakers believe is black people’s natural environment: “les cites”. These films have the best intentions, but completely lack any kind of relatability, because they are made by people who are not black, and not even working class. In 2000, it was La Squale. In 2001, Fatou la Malienne. In 2014, it was Bande de filles (Girlhood). After these films, almost none of the actors go on to have a career.
Cette année a marqué les 10 ans des révoltes qui ont commencé à Clichy sous bois en Octobre et Novembre 2005. Je n'espérais pas que le moindre évènement commémauratif aurait lieu, étant donné que les évènements ont été effacés de la mémoire collective, comme si la rage et le déni de ceux qui vivent dans des cités n'étaient qu'un feu de paille à éteindre rapidement.
When I was 14, construction works started in my middle school, to build a new gym. In the meantime, me and the other girls had to change in a temporary building adjacent to the construction site. One day, one of the teachers walked in and told us that the construction workers were peeping at us through the windows, and we had to be careful. That was it.
Read MoreMen have read my script and told me that « Using rape has a plot device is really good. You should insert flashbacks as well. And don’t forget to make the audience needs to relate to the perpretrator. »
Read MoreEvery ten years or so, a French film is released, with the goal of portraying the real lives of black Frenchs. The characters always go through awful struggles and live in what filmmakers believe is black people’s natural environment: “les cites”. These films have the best intentions, but completely lack any kind of relatability, because they are made by people who are not black, and not even working class. In 2000, it was La Squale. In 2001, Fatou la Malienne. In 2014, it was Bande de filles (Girlhood). After these films, almost none of the actors go on to have a career.
Read MoreTous les 10 ans environ, sort au ciné un film sur la banlieue qui "dépeint la réalité des cités" en utilisant des acteurs novices, sélectionné Les héroines noires de ces films semblent toutes sorties du même moule: elles vivent dans des cités, éduquées pour la majorité par des mères célibataires, subissent la pression de leurs grands frères cousins dans la cité qui s'opposent à leur émancipation.
Read MoreCette année a marqué les 10 ans des révoltes qui ont commencé à Clichy sous bois en Octobre et Novembre 2005. Je n'espérais pas que le moindre évènement commémauratif aurait lieu, étant donné que les évènements ont été effacés de la mémoire collective, comme si la rage et le déni de ceux qui vivent dans des cités n'étaient qu'un feu de paille à éteindre rapidement.
Read MoreThis year marks the 10 year anniversary of the 2005 French unrest, which started after the accidental death of two teenagers, running away from the police. It lasted three weeks.
It is not an event the French media or political figures are keen to commemorate. After all, a right-wing politician, Nadine Morano, said a month ago that France “is a white race country”. It is still a long way for non-white French to be even acknowledged as such.
Read More"Sprintermn": The term was coined by one of my friend to describe that strange weather we do have in the UK, where in one day you have rain, sun and chilly evenings.
This year, my great British summer was neither long, nor hot. It was a sprintermn, who lasted from May until October: hot for two weeks, cloudy for the rest of the time. As always, I lived in my suitcase and wandered in so many places. It was a summer full of contradictions, just like my life.
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Men have read my script and told me that « Using rape has a plot device is really good. You should insert flashbacks as well. And don’t forget to make the audience needs to relate to the perpretrator. »