Tout d’abord, selon un article de Narthex, « le cinéma est un miroir. Celui de notre société, avec ses évolutions. » Certes, le septième art joue un rôle social depuis les années 1930, cependant la popularité de cette expression artistique est en voie de fleurir actuellement. Pour plusieurs cinéastes et réalisateurs, le cinéma et les arts visuels sont les meilleurs moyens pour aborder les sujets de société, car ils sont accessibles grand public. Ainsi, je proposerai d’examiner à quelle mesure la cinématographie peut articuler des pensées profondes à propos de la société contemporaine. Dans un premier temps, nous analyserons le rôle du cinéma de manière plus large, dans la lutte contre les stéréotypes. Dans un second temps, nous évoquerons la manière dont le cinéma a été intégral dans plusieurs mouvements socio-politiques. Enfin, nous nous intéresserons à comment le cinéma devient-il outil politique dans le contexte francophone actuel. 

Premièrement, le cinéma contribue à la destruction des stéréotypes. Selon la critique cinématique de Viola Shafik, il a le pouvoir de rompre les cliches. Considérons par exemple le cas du réalisateur franco-marocain Nabil Ayouch. Dans ses scenarios, il libère la parole de bon nombre de milieux sociaux au Maroc, tout en dévoilant la réalité des personnages. Des lors, en montrant une variété d’individus à l’écran, Ayouch, et ainsi le cinéma francophone, arrivent à casser les stéréotypes et inégalités a propos de ces individus et les groupes qu’ils représentent.  

D’ailleurs, il va sans dire que le cinéma contribue aux mouvements socio-politiques, tels que le féminisme. Les films Bande de Filles de Celine Sciamma (2014) et Je ne suis pas un homme facile de Éléonore Pourriat (2018) sont très utiles pour notre argumentation. Ces films-là illustrent le combat contre les systèmes patriarchaux et les difficultés auxquelles font face les femmes dans la vie. Lorsqu’on voit ces films dans le cinéma, on apprend au grand public, comment on peut changer la société et la rendre plus équilibre. En conséquence, le cinéma féministe reflète les réalités effrayantes, afin de mettre en relief le travail qu’il nous reste à faire pour développer la société. 

J’ajouterai que l’art cinématique devient non seulement une méthode de souligner les controverses et problèmes sociétaux, mais aussi un véritable outil politique. L’objectif ? De mettre en lumière les vrais combats qui existent toujours, et de proposer des solutions concrètes.  Pour confirmer mes propos, je citerai le rôle du cinéma et de la propagande cinématique dans la lutte contre la colonisation française.  Le cas du film La Bataille d’Alger (1966) nous fournit un exemple très représentatif du pouvoir du cinéma, car on voit la révolution contre l’hégémonie française à l’écran. Ainsi, le cinéma visualise un futur plus libre, comme on le voit dans le cinéma francophone de l’Algérie pendant et après la guerre d’Indépendance.
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En guise de conclusion, le cinéma peut soutenir la désintégration des stéréotypes. Également, la représentation visuelle de la vraie vie contribue à l’action des révolutions sociales, à la fois en termes de sensibilisation du public et du véridique travail politique qu’il reste à faire. Par conséquent, je réaffirme ma position, en disant qu’actuellement, le cinéma est peut-être notre plus fort mécanisme dans le développement social et politique. 
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​According to an article by Narthex, ‘cinema is a mirror. That of our society, with its evolutions.’ Indeed, ‘the seventh art’ has played a major social role since the 1930s, but the popularity of this art form is only recently burgeoning. For numerous filmmakers and directors, cinema and visual arts constitute the best means to tackle societal issues because they are accessible to the general public. In light of this, I propose to examine to what extent cinematography can articulate profound thoughts on contemporary society. Firstly, we will analyse the broader role of cinema in the struggle against stereotypes. Secondly, we consider how cinema has played an integral role in many socio-political movements. Finally, we will reflect on how cinema has become a political tool in the current francophone environment.
 
First of all, cinema contributes to the destruction of stereotypes. According to film critic Viola Shafik, it has the power to break clichés. Let us consider, for example, the case of the French-Moroccan cinematographer Nabil Ayouch. In his scripts, he liberates the voices of many people from various social milieus in Morocco, all the while revealing his characters’ reality. Through showing a variety of individuals on the screen, Ayouch, and thereby francophone cinema more generally, manage to break stereotypes and inequalities around these individuals and the groups that they represent.
 
Besides, it goes without saying that cinema contributes to socio-political movements such as feminism. The movies Bande de Filles by Céline Sciamma (2014) and Je ne suis pas un homme facile by Eléonore Pourriat (2018) are very useful for our argument. These films illustrate the fight against patriarchal systems and the difficulties that women face in life. When watching these films at the cinema, the general public leanrs how society can be changed and stabilised. Consequently, feminist cinema reflects frightening realities in order to emphasise the work that remains to be done in order to develop society.
 
I would add that cinematic art becomes not only a method by which controversies and societal problems are underlined, but also a substantial political tool. The goal? To bring to light real, persisting social struggles and to put forward concrete solutions. To give weight to my argument, I will refer to the role of cinema and film propaganda in the struggle against French colonialism. The film La Bataille d’Alger (1966) provides us with an important example of the power of cinema as we see the revolution against French hegemony on screen. Cinema thus envisages a freer future, as seen in Algeria’s francophone cinema during and after the War of Independence.
 
By way of conclusion, cinema can work towards the disintegration of stereotypes. Equally, visual representation of real life contributes to the action of social revolutions, both in terms of raising public awareness as well as in highlighting the veracious political work that remains to be done. Given this, I reaffirm my position in saying that cinema is perhaps our strongest tool for social and political development.
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Image by Skitterphoto via Pixabay

Image by truthseeker08 via Pixabay

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​France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, sees the French-speaking world as ‘a family united by language, and by hopes for brotherhood, peace, freedom, human dignity and justice’. Behind this idea of la francophonie (countries with French as a common language), however, lies a far more traumatic reality. Should we not consider the colonial history of many French-speaking countries? Do we not have a responsibility to critique the act of forgetting the horrific roots at the heart of this linguistic unification? In this piece I will suggest that we must re-evaluate the ‘family’ of French-speaking countries and see it as a broken one; founded on racism and French hegemony, and in search of freedom.
 
Firstly, we must consider the histories of violence and colonialism which unite these countries and account for their use of French. Algeria’s case is a prime example of France’s abuse of power in Africa. From 1830 to 1962, Algeria wasn’t just a French colony – it formed part of France. When the French government came into power, French was made the language of education and administration. However, since Algeria’s Independence in 1962, there has been a strong current fighting against this precedence of French. For many Algerian people French is synonymous with the trauma of colonialism: by rejecting the language they hope to free themselves from the colonial regime. 
 
Moreover, people are challenging the superior status of French in order to re-discover and reconnect with their own origins. Many former colonies have implemented strategies to break ties with France. For example, Morocco introduced an ‘arabification’ policy after its Independence in 1956 which banned the monopoly of French in schools and in other institutions. As a Moroccan blogger put it: ‘What could be stranger than a sovereign country waiting 55 years before daring to free itself from the language of its coloniser?’
 
The monopoly of the French language meant the annihilation of many local languages and dialects. Given this great loss, it is hardly surprising that more and more people of formerly colonised countries are trying to re-establish the importance of indigenous languages. Post-colonial literature provides us with many examples of this strategy. Take the authors Assia Djebar, Kamel Daoud and Boualem Sansal. Even if they write French-language works, they often include untranslatable Arabic words in order to demonstrate the importance of their linguistic heritage. Even if these authors are all united by their use of French, they are dedicated to maintaining links to the languages of their ancestors, given how greatly colonialism has influenced their use of language.
 
Overall, even if many French people celebrate this network of French-speaking countries, it is dangerous to forget the problematic past which unites them. Given the colonial history behind this linguistic phenomenon, many try and sever their ties with French. Despite the difficulty of such an immense task, artistic trends in post-colonial literature and film offer glimmers of hope; culture and the arts have a great potential to offer creative and emancipatory solutions. 

The image of the Arab woman differs from the image of the international or Western woman in the media and in real life. There is no doubt that there is a difference between the image of women in the West and the Middle East, especially in the field of politics and the media. On the contrary, there are also some similarities.

Firstly, we need to focus on the importance of women in politics. Throughout history, women have struggled due to gender inequality. Women's movements have organized multiple conferences and a women's union. It is well known that the Western feminist movements have played an important role throughout history. They have contributed not only to refuting the stereotypes of women, but also to gaining the right to vote, for example in 1918 in Britain.

In addition, Arab women have taken the opportunity to contribute to women's freedom. For example, Tarab Abd al-Hadi played an important role in politics and in the liberation of women in Palestine. She founded the Palestinian Arab Women's Conference, the first women's association in this country. She helped found the Arab Women's Association and led the first women's demonstration against the Israeli occupation.

Moreover, the educated woman in her own right represents the importance of women in society and contributes greatly to the perception of the role of women. They are essential in refuting stereotypes, aiming for complete freedom in all countries. In Al Jazeera, for example, women speak, write and work like all men.

Likewise, we see independent and liberated women through social media, especially since there is no strong censorship in Western countries. Women's clothing in films and the media is the reflection of society and the ideas and religion of people in the country. A Muslim woman wears the hijab and the abaya, and a Western woman wears European clothes, so we see the influence of the West in society. It is possible for a woman to wear whatever she wants, and we see many of the views and traditions of women in the world through clothing. This shows the two cultures, and leads to multiple images of women.

By contrast, we see persistent gender inequality among girls and children. The girl plays an important role in spreading ideas about women. Using social media now is a double-edged sword. From my point of view, we can use it to spread information and share ideas, but for many people, it is the primary source of the negative stereotype of women, in both the Arab and Western world.

​In short, the image of women differs from one country to another. The goal now is to dispel the negative stereotype, many of us are working toward the same dream. ​

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