Rechercher

/ languages

Choisir langue
 

French cinema takes on a new hue

by Alison Hird

Article published on the 2008-12-06 Latest update 2009-02-26 09:23 TU

Felicité Wouassi plays the leading role of Sonia(Photo: courtesey of ARP Selection)

Felicité Wouassi plays the leading role of Sonia
(Photo: courtesey of ARP Selection)

Non-white faces are few and far between on the silver screen in France. But a new film is changing that, breaking new ground with a mostly black cast.

Culture: a film about a family in the Paris suburbs

06/12/2008 by Alison Hird

“It’s a shame you’re black…. you could’ve been my daughter,” quips an old (white) lady as home-help Sonia (Felicité Waoussi) tends to her with the kind of loving attention and patience most mothers could only dream of receiving.

Sonia and her son at her daughter's wedding(Photo: courtesey of ARP Selection)

Sonia and her son at her daughter's wedding
(Photo: courtesey of ARP Selection)

Sonia, a kind of Mother Courage struggling to bring up her 4 kids on a sink estate in the Paris suburbs, is the leading lady in the film Aide-toi, le ciel t’aidera (God helps those who help themselves).

One the day Sonia’s elder daughter gets married, one of her sons gets busted for drugs and her husband dies of a heart attack. Her younger daughter later announces she’s seven months pregnant at the age of 17.

Meanwhile everyday life goes on with trips to the hairdresser, launderette, the odd party and a bit of love interest from an ambulance driver.  

Film director François Dupeyron

Film director François Dupeyron

Director François Dupeyron says he wanted to show the everyday ups and downs of a family in France’s multi-racial, underprivileged suburbs, in the style of Italian comedies of the 1970s.

“It happens to be an African family, and it’s quite rare to see that in France,” he says. “But above all it’s a family… black, white, yellow, green… they all have problems.”

He says that blacks are “not represented in French cinema”, and there is little doubt this film shows more black faces on the big screen in one go than you would see in a year in France. In fact, Dupeyron admits he’s only filmed one black actress in his 20-year career.

The CSA or French television watchdog, recently said the lack of non-white faces on French television was deplorable. Cinema isn’t much better.

While Mata Gabin (who plays a man-eating hairdresser and Sonia’s confidante) had already acted in one of Dupeyron’s earlier films Monsieur Ibrahim, the majority of the actors were new to cinema, and some were complete beginners. Felicité Wouassi came from theatre.

Sonia tries to keep her sons in check(Photo: courtesey of ARP Selection)

Sonia tries to keep her sons in check
(Photo: courtesey of ARP Selection)

“I saw her in a play directed by Roman Polanski,” says Dupeyron. “It was a small role but her charisma shone out. She was a real ‘Mother Courage’.” 

Wouassi received the best actress award at this year’s Tokyo film festival.

Aide-toi, le ciel t’aidera isn’t afraid to confront clichés about immigrants in rough suburbs, such as teenage pregnancy and drug dealing.

Stereotypical? Dupeyron admits some members of the black community were worried about the film, denying that black tramps (like the one hiding out in the launderette spin dryer) or elderly black violent fathers (like Sonia’s husband) exist in real life. But the director defends his subjects and the way he treated them.

“It’s a reality and you have to show things how they are, but be fair, not fall into caricature,” he says, adding it’s a mistake to show any community in a perfect light.

The lead-up to the film’s release coincided with the United States presidential elections, and the poster featured the slogan “Obama, le ciel t’aidera” (Obama, God will help you).

So were they riding on the ‘Obama wave’? Dupeyron says just as Obama was elected despite being black, not because of it, “we have to get to the point where Felicité gets acting roles not because she’s black but because of her talent,” he says. “And we’re a long way off,” he adds ruefully.

Culture

<em>Skull with Butterflies</em>, by Philippe Pasqua(© J. Brunelle/Adagp, Paris 2010)

Cracking skulls!

Fascination with death reaches new heights in an exhibition guaranteed to make you touch your head and feel thankful it is not made out of colouring crayons, or flies!

2010-02-15 12:35 TU

(Photo: Paris, ville rayonnante)

France's gothic avant-garde

A new show reveals an avant-garde Paris in the 13th century creating “total art” that spread from architecture to all art forms and went on to conquer much of Europe.

2010-02-13 15:16 TU

Poster for <em>Sons d'Hiver</em>

Winter sounds warm up French jazz fans

A tribute to trumpeter Don Cherry at a Free Jazz showcase festival outside of Paris.

2010-01-31 11:55 TU

Jane Allan performing in Paris(Photo: Christophe Bailleul)

Trance on a trapeze

Ever thought of running away with the circus? The mere idea sounds almost 19th century now, but the art of the circus is alive and well.

2010-01-30 12:41 TU

Retro Mobile - classic car exhibition

The rusty 1925 Bugatti Brescia Type-22

260,500 euros for rusty old car found at bottom of lake

A rusty old Bugatti, which spent years at the bottom of a Swiss lake, sold for 260,500 euros at the Retro Mobile classic car exhibition on Saturday. Other more lovingly-restored pristine examples are exciting enthusiasts from across the world in a special anniversary event at Porte de Versailles in Paris.

2010-01-23 20:21 TU

(Photo: Dirk Lenis)

France's changing face looks east

Since its ethnically diverse team won a famous World Cup victory 11 years ago, France has tried to change its image at home and abroad.  Bonjour India presents a multicultural French-speaking world to south Asians.

2010-01-22 16:17 TU

Isadora Duncan, from Elisabeth Kapnist's film(Photo: JIFA/DR)

Putting art on film

International films about art converge in Paris for a festival at the Louvre from 20-24 January.

2010-01-20 13:09 TU

(Photo: Rosslyn Hyams)

What sex is a coffee bean, where does the aubergine come from?

Where were eggplants first grown? And what about quinces and clementines. A new book traces the journey of fruit and veg from their countries of origin to our plates.

2010-01-08 16:08 TU

Robin Guthrie in St Petersburg 2008 (Photo: robinguthrie.com)

Cocteau Twin flying solo

In the 1980s and 90s, Robin Guthrie was the guitarist whose rippling layers of sound formed a pivotal part of the sound of the British band, the Cocteau Twins. His most recent solo work Songs to Help My Children Sleep was released in November.

2010-01-06 16:43 TU

A scene from Nord by Rune Denstad Langlo

A taste of Nordic filmmaking in Paris

Ciné Nordica 2009 at Paris’s Panthéon cinema showcases filmmaking from Scandinavia. So what makes Nordic film different from the rest?

2009-12-22 17:15 TU

more film