If there is a recipe for social cohesion, it should be no surprise that for the French, food is a key ingredient. 

"Whatever the conflict, the outcome will always be the better for a shared bowl of couscous," says Sandrine Roustan, Head of Programming, France 4.

There is wry humour in her observation.

The French public service broadcaster was recognized in Berlin earlier this month (10/9) by the Eurovision Creative Forum for its seven part series, 'Viens dîner dans ma cite,'  which roughly translates to 'Share my table, down on the estate.'

The entertainment format invites opinion makers across the political spectrum to sit and eat with residents from suburbs of France frequently headlined for social unrest.

"These bona fide French citizens," says Roustan, "are still viewed by many as immigrants for no other reason than their parents have originated from parts of Africa and Asia. They are a generation in search of an identity, who have been unfairly marginalized by the French establishment."

The series was conceived and produced by esteemed French filmmaker Djamel Bensalah, who was born in Saint Denis, one of the Paris suburbs featured in the series. Bensalah's parents were from Algeria, which won independence from France in 1962 after 132 years of oppressive colonial rule. Today, many French-Algerians remain disaffected, living in impoverished circumstances cross France, with few opportunities for social advancement.

"Without Bensalah," says Roustan, "the series could not have been made. Themes such as racism and life in the suburbs frequent his work. It helped enormously that he is a respected film-maker. This month, Series 2 airs in France. The popularity of the first series has politicians queuing for invitations."

It wasn't always the case. Issues of security almost led to the cancellation of a dinner planned in France's second largest city Marseilles.

"We had invited Manuel Valls, the minister of the interior," said Roustan. "At the last moment, his political advisors expressed concern for his safety and pulled out. We had already been given assurances from community leaders that the dinner would go ahead without disruption. As a compromise, we invited the minister to choose a local venue where he'd feel safe. In the end, his entourage outnumbered the dinner guests."
Senior public service media executives awarded the series third place among the 7 Best Formats presented during the annual Eurovision TV Meetings.
EBU Head of TV Bettina Brinkmann says the programme fulfils  important expectations audiences have of PSM. 

"Public service media is about universality, about taking an inclusive approach," says Brinkman. "This programme excels in providing a minority group with a voice, an opportunity to present themselves and their neighbourhoods in a different light. It's a winning format which can be easily adapted by other EBU Members whose communities face similar challenges." 

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