How can one be French?
Each year, around 120,000 people become French through naturalization. Additionally, about 20,000 young people born in France automatically become French at the age of 18 (since the repeal of the 1993 law that required a "declaration of intent" upon reaching adulthood). Before their 18th birthday, even if they are born in France, they are not French. Some foreigners who live in France and are fully integrated never apply to become French citizens...
Type (Documentaire / Documentaire fiction / Série documentaire)DocumentaryGenre en anglaisSociety & Economy Directed by Négar ZokaSupported by CNC, FASILD, ProcirepDistributed by ADAV, Artline FilmsYear2003Duration52min
By placing her camera among those who wish to “become” French, the director, who is herself in the process of naturalization, offers us an inside approach to the issue.
Through the intersecting perspectives of those who live, study, or work on French soil while waiting to become full-fledged French citizens, she takes us into a gray area—an “in-between” where symbolic borders don’t always align with geographical ones: “To be or not to be… French?” is the question the director seeks to answer by exploring the paradoxical situation of those who, like her, are French without quite being so.
This provides an opportunity for a dual portrait: one of an administration that defines what “being French” means, and one of the dreams and fantasies of those who aspire to become French.
A journey into “Frenchness,” delving into the French collective unconscious, to surprise even ourselves at what we have become.
Press coverage
By placing her camera among those who wish to "become" French, Négar Zoka (…) offers viewers an insider's perspective on the challenges of integration.
Le Figaro
A fascinating film for its thought-provoking questions.
Télérama
In just one hour, this documentary clearly presents the issue: Is there a place for difference in the Republic?
Le Monde
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