French Film Industry Faces Calls for Greater Diversity in Casting and Production

The column, published on Wednesday, February 26 by Le Parisien, is signed by Mathieu Kassovitz, Stomy Bugsy and Sonia Rolland. The text points to the "invisibility", at the heart of French cinema, "of actors, directors and producers from both the overseas departments and territories and African and Asian immigration." For the authors of the column, France "keeps its actors of color in insignificant roles that will never justify any nomination at the Césars."

Yet, it is neither talent, nor competence that is lacking among the actors defended by the column. "I know a lot of actors from immigration who come out of drama schools, go through the classic path... and who ultimately end up without a role," explains the actor, Eriq Ebouaney.

He does recognize, however, that in the theater sector, "things are changing." Unfortunately, in cinema, the problem remains whole and deserves reflection. Apart from a few exceptions like Omar Sy, he thinks that actors of color are often called upon to play in films about the suburbs.