Tracing Postcolonialism - Discrimination in the French Labor Market in the Film Vivre Me Tue

Images can address topics that are beyond the reach of narrated language and make it possible to connect to the experiences and events of previous generations. It is well known that biographical experiences can manifest themselves in subsequent generations. I will use the example of France to show how colonial history plays a role in the life stories of French men and women of Maghrebi origin.

In a film analysis, I focus on the feature film Vivre me tue by Jean-Pierre Sinapi, in which Sami Bouajila portrays the character Paul Smaïl. Although the film was released in 2002, it addresses a still pressing and relevant issue in French society that shapes the lived life of many: the discrimination faced by individuals in the job market due to their Maghrebian background. To illustrate this, we accompany Paul Smaïl during his job interviews. I analyse three scenes from the film in which Paul experiences various forms of discrimination. Through the examination of these cinematic representations, it becomes evident how individual experiences are intricately woven into a complex interplay with overarching societal and historical contexts.

My research focus is originally rooted in sociological interpretative-reconstructive biographical research, in which I study visual biographies in particular, which are created with analog and digital images. This has given rise to questions regarding the integration of moving images into biographical research and the treatment of text and image montages. This article aims to explore the use of video material in addition to biographical-narrative interviews, in order to gain deeper insights into social phenomena that are often difficult to articulate linguistically, such as a country's colonial history.