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FILMMAKER PUSHES FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN FRANCE: Director hopes documentary can at least put the issue on the table.
*French film director Yamina Benguigui is hoping her latest documentary on racism in the workplace will introduce the idea of affirmative action in France, a policy which does not exist in the country.
"Le Plafond de Verre" (Glass Ceiling) documents first-hand accounts of discrimination facing people from immigrant communities, mostly black and North African Arab, when searching for employment.
Instead of releasing the film in theaters, Benguigui has been holding screenings every Thursday in a Paris cinema in the Saint Michel district and has distributed copies for special showings and debates across the country.
"I knew that when young people came together to see the film on a specific night, especially the black and Arab sons and daughters of immigrants, the screening would turn into a public forum," said Benguigui, born in France of Arab Algerian parents. "Young people ask questions about the discrimination they have been experiencing in the search for work."
In a move originally seen as a way to prevent discrimination, French law forbids the use of race or religion to compile figures of any kind. For example, it is difficult to count the percentage of North African Arabs or black Africans in major French companies or top schools.
The current law makes it impossible for France to implement an American-style affirmative action program with quotas for police forces and other groups, unless the law is changed.
"Politicians in France are mostly horrified to even think about such policies because they go against what are called the values of the republic," said Benguigui. "I think that unless there is pressure from the ground up, politics in France will never change."
