Entertainment | Film & Cinema

Outsiders in their own country

With the wreckage of the race riots in France still smouldering, there can hardly be a better time to revisit a film that features a friendship between a French woman and an Arab man.

  • By Daniel Bardsley, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:31 May 3, 2009
  • Tabloid

With the wreckage of the race riots in France still smouldering, there can hardly be a better time to revisit a film that features a friendship between a French woman and an Arab man.

Bab El Web, first released in 2004, focuses on a young man, Bouzid, who through the internet gets in touch with a young French lady - and then invites her to his home in Algeria.

In the film, which is being shown as part of the Arabian Nights DIFF programme, Bouzid is played by French Rai singer Faudel, who was born in France to Algerian parents.

While insisting that the rioting, largely blamed on young Arabs, was blown out of proportion by the media, Faudel acknowledged there was a real problem in France.

However, he said it was not so much a problem of the racial and religious minorities failing to make an effort to integrate into French society, but more an issue of the white majority being unwilling to accept those of foreign origin.

"It is very difficult [for Arabs in France] because they are always treated as outsiders. They are French, but their origins are North African."

"If you have two people who are equally qualified as doctors applying for a job, and one of them is called Mohammad and the other one is called Jacques, they will say no to Mohammad."

"Then there is the case of a presenter on Telefrance who is not French and so the public don't accept him."

"It's not surprising that they feel shunned and need to react. It's not good what has happened, but they find this is the only way for them to express themselves."

"You cannot blame the politicians for the situation, it is because the public fails to accept," he said.

Bab El Web was screened last night at Mall of the Emirates and will be shown again at the Madinat Theatre tomorrow at 5.45pm.

Faudel, who got his first recording contract when he was aged just 16, said he hoped that the film, which was directed by Merzak Allouache, would help to increase understanding between white French people and Arabs.

"We're trying to change the mentality. The more we talk about it and the more we show it, then we'll have a better chance of solving the problems."

"If this film does that in a small way, then I'm happy. I see this film as something that can help people to understand the problem," he said.

Send us your review of a DIFF film.
A selection of review will be printed in Tabloid.
write2tabloid@gulfnews.com

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