turBAN

turBAN is a film about the specific impact of France's 2004 law banning conspicuous religious symbols in public schools on Sikh youth. The consequences have been concrete: students expelled or pushed out for refusing to remove their turbans, then unable to obtain ID cards, driving licenses, or passports because official photo requirements demand a bare head. For young Sikhs who want to fully participate in French civic life, their faith has become an administrative obstacle inserted by the state.

The film captures the particular anger of Sikh youth who know their history — that Sikh soldiers fought and died in France during both World Wars, that their contribution to France's liberation from Nazi occupation is documented but largely unacknowledged. They are organizing, meeting with parliamentarians, holding conferences, and building a public case for the right to be both Sikh and fully French. turBAN is a film about the gap between what France says it stands for and what it actually asks of its Sikh citizens.