Since the first « affaire du foulard » in the early 1980s, questions of immigration and integration in France have been tied to the issue of veiling and to the Islamic headscarf, which has increasingly been defined as symbolic “proof” of the failure of France’s Muslims to fully “integrate” into the dominant culture. The current government’s position on the headscarf is that the French conception of laïcité prevents citizens from wearing “ostentatious signs” of their religious faith in the public sphere.

In fact, there is no necessary connection between veiling and integration, between Islam and integration, or even between veiling and Islam. Moreover, the idea that laïcité excludes the veil and any sign of difference has no basis in French history. And yet, the obsession with the veil continues to become more prevalent in French society. Given the lack of a legal or cultural foundation for this preoccupation, it seems odd that it should attract so much attention. However, I would suggest that the veil has become a metonymy for Islam in general, representing for many the visible presence of Muslims in France. Moreover, because the function of the veil is to hide or cover, it has become emblematic of French fears that Islam has a hidden agenda, namely to undermine French culture as a whole. Understood in this way, the dominant culture desire to make the veil invisible is really a desire to make Islam and those who practice it disappear.

Given the prominence of French discourse on the veil, it is somewhat surprising that films dealing with questions of immigration and integration—often referred to as the cinéma de banlieue—have shied away from the issue. Films ranging from La Haine to Mémoires d’immigrés examine the issue of integration through explorations of racism, economic exploitation and social exclusion, but go to great pains not to address or represent Islam. One notable exception to this is Mahmoud Zemmouri’s 1997 film, 100% Arabica, a film in which Islam and French (mis)conceptions of Islam figure centrally.

My paper is an exploration of the way in which Zemmouri’s film places Islam at the forefront of the narrative in order to separate it from the question of integration. I begin with an exploration of the emergence of the veil as a metonymy for Islam, and I examine the ways in which this discourse blocks any discussion of the real issues surrounding integration. Next, I give a brief overview of the way in which the cinéma de banlieue avoids the issue of Islam in its exploration of integration. Finally, I offer a reading of integration as explored in 100% Arabica. Specifically, I argue that Zemmouri deconstructs the dominant culture view of Islam, particularly by refusing to connect Islam and the veil. Moreover, I argue that Zemmouri’s film presents the Islamic fundamentalism so feared by the dominant culture as a by-product of that fear. Ultimately, I conclude that Zemmouri’s film, like other banlieue films, strives to separate the issues of Islam and integration. However, unlike other films, 100% Arabica does this by demonstrating that the French pre-occupation with Islam is simply one manifestation of the racism and marginalization that are at the heart of the integration issue.