“The White Van: How a Rumor of Roma Kidnapping Children Spread Online and in Society”

It is a story of sound and fury, tumult and silence. It was born from a rumor heard and repeated outside schools, on football pitches, on social networks… Roma in vans would kidnap children.

Like a virus, it has invaded social networks, television news and everyday life. Domas in a white van would abduct children to prostitute them or sell their organs.
This rumour, like all rumours, has neither age nor origin. For ages, here as elsewhere, it slumbers then wakes up like a storm carrying away everything in its path.
One of his last appearances dates from the spring of 2019. For several weeks, in Seine-Saint-Denis, vans were set on fire, slums were attacked, people were beaten up. During these days of conflagration, at least 38 anti-Roma attacks took place. Some are filmed and commented live.

Christophe Boltanski et Jean Bulot resumed the path of this rumor. They collected his last traces as well as the words of many witnesses who all had to deal with it. They tell this rumor day by day and question its mechanics.
How was she born?
What roles did social networks play in its spread?
What fears did it bring to the fore?

The white van a film by Jean Bulot and Christophe Boltanski Thursday, October 6 on France 3 Paris Île-de-France

And in replay on France.tv