Background

"- Have you ever seen the sea?
- No.
- He's 17, he's never seen the sea, Deauville is 2 hours away, how come? "

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Process

With 3 colleagues, we directed a documentary (35min) in Grigny (91), the poorest town in France.

With half its population living below the poverty line, 50% of young people dropping out of school before high school, and 45% unemployment among the under-25s, we were expecting a rather worrying response. And yet, when we do get a response, it's not the words that stand out: between a deep sense of abandonment and total solidarity, Grigny stands out. La Grande Borne and Grigny 2, neighborhoods known in the media as violent and communitarian, are explored and rediscovered through the eyes of their residents.

Grigny is no longer about aggression, but about solidarity, no longer about communitarianism, but about a mix of 80 cultures learning to live together.

Credits

This work was carried out in collaboration with Nel Gilles (ENSCi), Margaux Hillairet (CELSA), Ilia Gerber (Sciences Po), under the direction of François Azambourg, Elena Tosi Brandi and Veronica Rodriguez.

Photos by me.