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Young, Muslim, and French
Thursday, August 26, 2004
France's recent decision to ban the wearing of traditional Muslim headscarves in public schools -- a law widely perceived in the Muslim community as an undemocratic expression of "Islamophobia" -- has increased tensions between the French Republic and its largest minority population, numbering about five million people. WIDE ANGLE explores this conflict in the town of Dammarie-les-Lys, a racially diverse, working-class community on the outskirts of Paris, where young Muslim women face a choice to obey the ban - or flout it. Also featured is the local high school principal who, as a member of the commission charged with reviewing the use of religious symbols in public life, voted for the ban against headscarves. In nearby Evry, we see the rector of the grand mosque leading Friday prayers and conducting the conversion of a young French man to Islam. Europe's Muslim population has doubled in the last decade, with the largest numbers settling in France. Their presence is challenging traditional French notions of nationhood and citizenship, and their increasingly vocal demands for integration and recognition -- on their own terms -- is creating a crisis in the republic. "Young, Muslim, and French" reveals the hopes, frustrations, and political aspirations of second- and third-generation French-born Muslims and explores their potential to alter the landscape of France's national identity.
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Producer/writer Kathleen Hughes of Okapi Productions has produced, written and directed a wide variety of acclaimed nonfiction television programs. Most recently she produced segments for the PBS weekly public affairs series, NOW with Bill Moyers, including the Emmy-nominated program, "Pay Now, Pay Later," about a group foster care home. Hughes has written and directed numerous programs for Moyers, including two hours of the documentary series, AMERICA'S FIRST RIVER. Her work has received several awards, including the duPont Columbia Gold Baton, the Harry Chapin Media Award and the New York Society of Professional Journalists' First Amendment Award.
Producer Micah Fink, an award-winning journalist, has been involved with the development and production of documentary programming for THIRTEEN/WNET, PBS's FRONTLINE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELEVISION, and ABC NEWS. His recent work includes field producing for the ABC NEWS series HOPKINS 24/7; original story development and reporting for FRONTLINE's "Lost Children of Rockdale County" (Peabody Award); and associate producing for the PBS series FRONTIER HOUSE, FRONTLINE's "Jefferson's Blood," and 20/20's INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY. In 2003, he produced WIDE ANGLE's award-winning documentary "AIDS Warriors" in Angola.
Director of Photography Hervé Cohen's productions have been broadcast on numerous networks, including PBS, ARTE and CANAL+ (France), ABC (Australia), and NHK (Japan). His film ELECTRIC SHADOWS, profiling traveling film projectionists in rural China, received awards at the Oberhausen Film Festival, Leipzig Film Festival, Estonian Film Festival, and Montecatini Film Festival. For WIDE ANGLE's second season, he directed and filmed a segment of "Time for School," featuring a young school girl in Benin. Other credits include ECO D'AFRIQUE, which portrays successful entrepreneurs in Africa, and LES MINOTS DU PANIER, about the children in an immigrant neighborhood of Marseille, France.
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