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Looking for France - E4/7 The sorrow of France

1,659 views · Published 16 February 2017 · 43:16 · Indexed 20 October 2026

Channel: vpro world stories · 2017 · News & Politics

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Original Title: het verdriet van frankrijk
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.
E4/7: The sorrow of France
The French are big users of antidepressants and prove even more pessimistic about their future than Afghans and Iraqis.
Wilfred de Bruijn is amazed every day by the grumpy faces of Parisians that he encounters in the subway and on the streets. You would think it's the fear of terror, but even before the attacks the parisians did not look much happier. What is it with the ineradicable melancholy of the French?


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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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