Under a torrent of projectiles and verbal abuse, a group of policemen flee a housing project in a notorious French ‘banlieue’, or suburb, near Paris. At least, that’s what a video that’s recently made the rounds on social media networks would like you to believe. But the truth is that the clip is taken from a ‘mockumentary’, or fake documentary.
The video, which was uploaded to YouTube, is entitled ‘French Police Enter Muslim No Go Zone 25 June’ in reference to the infamous – and erroneous – ‘no-go zones’ designated by US news channel Fox News. By publishing the video on June 26, the user who uploaded it intended to make viewers believe that the incident had taken place the day before.
Yet ironically, the clip is actually an extract of a mockumentary that aims to knock down clichés about the banlieues circulated by media outlets. Filed in 2008 by ‘Kourtrajme,’ and artists’ collective.
