In each of Sabri Louatah's novels and the hit television series he created, France's wounded psyche is the invisible character.

He talks about his "sensual, tactile, visceral affection" for the French language, as well as his affinity to his hometown in southeastern France, which is drenched in its particular light, keeping a close eye on the forthcoming presidential election campaign.

All of this is done by Louatah from Philadelphia, which he began to consider his home after the 2015 attacks in France by Islamist extremists, which left the country terribly scarred. He no longer felt comfortable in France as anti-Muslim prejudice grew stronger.

In the run-up to the April elections, President Emmanuel Macron's top three opponents are all conducting anti-immigrant campaigns that stoke fears of a nation under "siege" by non-Europeans.

Who are the candidates? 

A center-right candidate now tied with the far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, uses phrases such as "zones of non-France."

Another candidate is Eric Zemmour, who has said that employers have the right to deny jobs to Black and Arab people, and vowed to send all Algerian doctors back to Algeria. 

A spike in anti-Muslims

According to official complaints obtained by the government's National Human Rights Commission, anti-Muslim activities in France increased 52% in 2020 compared to the previous year.

Incidences have climbed steadily over the last decade, peaking in 2015.

Young men viewed as Arab or Black were 20 times more likely to have their identities examined by the police, according to a rare government investigation conducted in 2017.