Banlieue Project

The Banlieue Project team discovers the Belle de Mai neighbourhood in the southern French city of Marseille. Known as a hub of resistance during the 1871 uprising, Belle de Mai now hosts the artistic wing of the cultural centre la Friche, which has put on a play honouring the history of the working-class, immigrant neighbourhood. The Banlieue Project team went to meet some of the residents.

The Banlieue Project team heads to the southern French city of Montpellier and to the central Comédie square in the la Paillade neighbourhood, where residents have started organising modern-day citizen agoras. The events are a rare occasion for those who don't often have the chance to express themselves to do so. They also help restart dialogue between residents of the inner city and its peripheral zones. 

From humour to cooking and culture, or even investigative reports, QG 92 is an all-encompassing online TV channel created by and for residents of Paris's Hauts de Seine suburbs. The Banlieue Project team met with Ihsane Jamaleddine, who's produced a poignant web series for the channel exploring the experiences of young girls in the housing projects. 

Around 51 percent of French women regularly practice a sport nationwide, compared to just one in three women in disadvantaged suburbs. To turn the tide, Alessandra Machado offers non-competitive classes exclusively to women in different neighbourhoods of the northern French city of Lille. The Banlieue Project team went to meet her.

Though 85 percent of French people do not go to the theatre, the Poudrerie Theatre in the Paris suburb of Sevran wants to recreate a link between the suburbs and the stage. The travelling troupe performs tailor-made shows, based on the experiences of local residents, inside people's homes. 

In 2016, then 25-year-old Kenny Tanovan took over the Neuhof futsal club in the eastern French city of Strasbourg. In less than a year, the team went on to win the regional championships in Alsace. Ever since, the club has been the pride and joy of Neuhof, where men, women and children are either a part of the team or die-hard supporters. The Banlieue Project team went to meet them.

After several months of training, 16 teenagers from different neighbourhoods of the eastern French city of Metz are determined to test their limits and build confidence. To that end, they took up arms in a war of words: a public speaking competition. The Banlieue Project team went to meet them. 

Award-winning filmmaker Nicolas Sene drew inspiration from Nanterre's Pablo Picasso housing project and its iconic "cloud towers" for his short films. As an activity leader involved in his local community, he also wanted to create links between Picasso the artist and the youth from the neighbourhood. The Banlieue Project team went to meet him.

With his second short film, "In spite of themselves", Djigui Diarra used his own experiences to illustrate the complex relationship between police and youth in the French suburbs. The Banlieue Project team went to meet him.

This week, Banlieue Project heads to the Paris suburb of Evry, where the Parc aux Lièvres housing project is set to be demolished. Using decades worth of archives plus virtual reality, a multi-generational coalition of its inhabitants pay tribute to the neighbourhood. Our team went to meet them.