They pass the students off as “morons”: in Marseille, this teacher is outraged by the film “Les Segpa”
By Clara Martot
Published on
You haven’t seen the film, but you may have heard of the controversy. Barely released in theaters, the production “Les Segpa” is talked about… in the wrong sense of the word.
Co-produced by C8 host Cyril Hanouna, the film is adapted from a successful Marseille web series. On Youtube, the “Les Segpa” channel has two million subscribers. But the sketches now projected on the big screen are far from being to everyone’s taste.
A film that undermines student confidence
So when the film’s trailer was released last January, Segpa teacher Rachid Zerrouki, known on Twitter as Rachid l’Institutlets out a first fit of anger.
According to this Marseille professor and many colleagues who were also indignant, the film will make Segpa students look like “morons”… Students who very often have a “self-confidence that is already quite dilapidated” by all the clichés that surround Segpa.
Students in difficulty portrayed as “idiots”
So when the film comes out on April 20, News Marseille spoke with Rachid Zerrouki to better understand the challenges of this production which, under cover of humour, reinforces very negative clichés.
“The film is faithful to the series of the same name which was a hit on YouTube. With millions of views, this series has shaped the clichés surrounding the Segpa. Moreover, all the students of Segpa know”, explains the professor.
Problem: “The series does not show the students of Segpa as they are, that is to say in school, but as idiots, insolent and violent young people. »
In Segpa, “impossible to draw a robot portrait”
But what is Segpa anyway? The acronym is often mocked, but remains very poorly known to the general public.
Segpa middle school classes (Adapted General and Professional Education Section) welcome students with difficulties, often for very diverse reasons.
The Segpa classes follow the same school program as the other classes, but the teaching is adapted. Young people never study more than 16 years old per class. At the end of the 3rd year, they can present the certificate and continue their studies, often in vocational education.
“There are young people with medical problems forced to go to the hospital regularly, young people in homes, former school phobics… Impossible to draw a typical robot portrait”, explains Rachid Zerrouki.
From stigma to school bullying
This is precisely what the teacher criticizes the film Les Segpa: a simplification of reality which turns out to be “stigmatising” and has very real consequences.
“When students in the classic curriculum pass in front of a Segpa class in the corridors, we can hear mocking proposals. The clichés of Segpa students, ultimately, create microaggressions. And microaggressions are harassment,” he says.
And finally, a Segpa class is often the best school of tolerance. “We are in reduced numbers, we have the same comrades from 6th to 3rd… The Segpa is a little cocoon. And that can only develop a sense of empathy, ”discovered Rachid Zerrouki.
Short films made in Segpa
Rather than fueling the controversy around the film, Rachid Zerrouki prefers to highlight other initiatives which are beneficial to students.
Among them: the “Toute La Lumière Sur les Segpa” festival, a festival that brings together short films made by Segpa students from the Aix-Marseille Academy.
Each year, students are invited to screenings at the Alhambra, a cinema in the 16th arrondissement of Marseille. Works can also be viewed online by the general public.
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