The outskirts as a conflict area. From the banlieues to Can Tunis.

In this edition of Off Programme, we will once again dedicate a moment to reflect on the events that, in recent years, have affected the outskirts of some cities in France, where an unresolved social conflict exists which is triggered by situations that can probably be found in many cities in Europe.

 

On 27th October 2005, a dramatic and shocking accident in Clichy sous Bois quickly degenerated into general riots by the youths from the banlieues of the largest cities in France who, night after night, took to the streets setting fire to everything in their path. This spiral of violence, the nihilism that pervaded the race to mimic these events, in which, eventually, the youths admitted that they had only wanted to come out on television, hid a deep social drama, a fracture in French society, an omnipresent racism that condemned a whole generation of young people to marginality just because they lived in the cities' outskirts. The Government promised changes. The Interior Minister at the time, Nicolas Sarkozy, whose attitude had contributed to sparking off the uprising, ended up winning the elections and is today the President of France. Four years later, the banlieues are still territories on the margin of the State. Very few things have changed there, but the youths are gradually beginning to explain themselves.

The Off Programme has decided to give a voice to these teenagers through the projection of three short films from the Festival Génération Court, which provides support to young film makers from the outskirts to help them to tell their own stories. The session, which will count on the presence of the Director of the Festival, will also include the projection of the short film Sur les Rives, by Rodrigo Llopis and Cécile Sánchez, and the documentary Can Tunis, which offers the counterpoint of the reality of a historically marginal district in Barcelona. Expert observers of the reality existing in France and Barcelona will participate in a round table discussion to analyse the French specificities of a global problem.

Sunday, 12th July, 6:30 pm

Projection
Can Tunis, 2007, 84', Original version in Spanish
Directors: José González Morandi and Paco Toledo

Tuesday, 14th July. At 7:00 pm

7:00 pm Projections
Sur les rives, 2008, 10', Original version, subtitles in Catalan
Directors: Rodrigo Llopis and Cecile Sánchez

Auber, Terre promise and L'autre
Three short films (10' each) presented at the Génération Court International Festival in France, directed by young people from Aubervilliers.

7:45 pm. Debate
The outskirts as a conflict area. From the banlieues to Can Tunis. With Rodrigo Llopis, photographic reporter from Madrid living in Paris, Diaby Doucouré, Franco-Malian Director of the Génération Court Festival, Sidi Mohammed Barkat, Franco-Algerian philosopher, José González Morandi, Co-Director of the documentary Can Tunis. Directed by: Josep Maria Martí Font, journalist, correspondent from El País in Paris between 2004 and 2008.

9:00 pm Projection
Can Tunis, 2007, 84', Original version in Spanish
Directors: José González Morandi and Paco Toledo