Look Who it Was Random video

Looking for France - E1/7 A shattered republic

2,527 views · Published 16 February 2017 · 43:12 · Indexed 5 October 2026

Channel: vpro world stories · 2017 · News & Politics

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Original Title: een republiek aan scherven
Living "like a God in France" is a saying applicable to vacationers in France, but absolutely not to the French themselves: to them, life is nothing but worrisome. They are facing high unemployment rates, fear of new terror attacks and an important political division. What is left of pillars that are the basis of the French republic: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité? And what does it mean actually, to be French, today? Dutch Parisian Wilfred de Bruijn uncovers an intriguing country, full of contradictions, far away from the cliches we all know.
 
E1/7 A shattered republic
The ideal of equality was the main driving force behind the French Revolution, but does equality really exist in France? Wilfred de Bruijn explores the gap between the different ethnic groups in his hometown of Paris in search of an answer. From the students of the prestigious Ecole de la Legion d'Honneur who talk lovingly about the republican values to the real people of Saint Denis that hold a much different discourse: "Officially, I'm French," said a Muslim in the street, "but not as French as the whites". In a different world, the 7th and 8th arrondissement, the old privileged elite of Paris lives, still holding on to their entitlement, despite the fact that the French nobility officially no longer exists. At the same time, in the suburbs of Paris there are no privileges and what was previously expressed in rap music and violent riots threatens to turn into radicalization and terrorism. Wilfred wonders: what binds the French yet?


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Presentation: Wilfred de Bruijn
Directors: Stefanie de Brouwer, Erik Lieshout
Chief Editors: Stefanie de Brouwer, Olaf Oudheusden
Research: Ilse van der Velden, Alexandre Horiot, Olaf Oudheusden
Anna Prichard, Pauline Cazaubon, Ouafia Kheniche, Marijn Kruk
Armelle Belaunde-Gautret, Gwenaelle Le Gall
Camera: Jackó van ‘t Hof, Joost van Herwijnen
Sound: Rik Meier, Arno Hagers
Editing: Obbe Verwer
Color Correction: Gerhard van der Beek
Sound Mixing: Rob Dul
Voice management: Alfred Koster
Music: Wouter van Bemmel
Production: Nicole Frints
Production Assistant: Yvon Keetman, Jonathan van den Berg, Heleen Kruijthoff
Intro: Erik Verhulst
Postproduction: Filmdoc
English, French and Spanish subtitles by Ericsson and co-funded by the European Union.

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