03/04/2009
For the second time, the Tournées Festival, designed to help bring contemporary French cinema to college campuses, comes to the SUNY Cortland campus with five showings during March and April.
SUNY Cortland was awarded a $1,800 grant to show the films. The first four, offered in March, will mark Women's History Month. All of the events will be moderated by a College faculty member and are free and open to the public. All will be shown in Old Main Brown Auditorium.
The Tournées Festival encourages schools to begin their own self-sustaining French film festivals by supporting the festival on individual campuses up to five times. Each year, the festival distributes approximately $180,000 to colleges and universities. The Tournées Festival was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture (CNC).
"These films are significant because they give people a chance to see a variety of films, not just from a French point of view, but also from an international perspective," said festival organizer Timothy Gerhard, an assistant professor of international communications and culture. "All of the films are widely acclaimed, new, modern, fun and interesting."
"Persepolis," moderated by Aphrodite Ahmadi, assistant professor of physics, and Nasrin Parvizi, associate vice president for facilities management, will be viewed at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 2.
Based on a hugely popular graphic novel of the same name, "Persepolis," is an animated film described as a poignant story of a clever and fearless girl coming of age in Iran at the time of the Islamic Revolution. Through the eyes of the precocious nine-year-old, Mariane, the viewer watches historical events unfold and the effects they have on one extended family.
Brett Troyan, assistant professor of history, will moderate "Blame it On Fidel" at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 20.
The film portrays Anna, a nine-year-old girl living a bourgeois life in France in the early 1970s until her parents decide to become involved in left-wing politics, opposing Francisco Franco in Spain and supporting Salvador Allende in Chile. "Blame it on Fidel" is a critically acclaimed movie, described as funny and poignant, that follows Anna and her younger brother as they adapt to the radical changes in their lifestyle.
"La Vie en Rose" will be shown at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24. The film will be moderated by Marie Ponterio, lecturer of French.
Actress Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2008 for her performance in "La Vie en Rose" as Edith Piaf, a French girl from the streets, who became one of the most popular and highly praised singers around the world. Rolling Stone magazine writes that Cotillard "gives a performance for the ages."
On Friday, March 27, Kassim Kone, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, will moderate "Moolaadé" at 4 p.m.
"What can I write that will inspire you to see 'Moolaadé'?," writes Roger Ebert. "This was for me the best film at Cannes 2004, a story vibrating with urgency and life." Legendary Senegalese author and director Ousmane Sembène provokes the audience by tackling female circumcision in a Senegalese village, and he does so in a film that, according to Ebert, "contains humor, charm and astonishing visual beauty."
"The Case of the Grinning Cat," moderated by Robert Ponterio, professor of French and chair of the International Communications and Culture Department, will be viewed at noon on Thursday, April 2.
This hour-long film takes a look at the city of Paris and its changing social climate. In 2001, cinema-essayist Chris Marker became intrigued by the sudden appearance of grinning yellow cat paintings on Paris buildings and public surfaces. The Boston Globe sees "The Case of the Grinning Cat" as "further evidence of Chris Marker's exhilarating wit." The Chicago Reader states, "I can't think of a better portrait of contemporary Paris."
For more information about the film festival, contact Gerhard at (607) 753-2021. For more information about Women's History Month, contact Professor of Philosophy Mechthild Nagel, interim Women's Studies coordinator and chair of the CGIS, at (607) 753-2013.