Williams College to Present Annual French Film Festival

Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., January 30, 2017—The 2017 Williams College French Film Festival will take place over three consecutive Mondays at 7 p.m. on February 13, 20, and 27, at Images Cinema, 50 Spring Street in Williamstown. All films are in French with English subtitles. The screenings are free and open to the public.

This year’s theme, “School Stories: Diversity and Adversity in New French Film,” examines the challenges facing students and teachers both in and beyond the classroom. From immigrant children in the primary schools of Paris, to students of color in the secondary schools of Strasbourg, to student activists in the universities of France, these films dramatize the potential benefits and difficulties of French education, where teachers and students must negotiate the complexities of integration and assimilation, authority and resistance, faith and belief, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity. Amid recent debates this year in both France and the United States on immigrants and refugees, misogyny and homophobia, racism and violence, these films serve as both cautionary tales and exemplary models for tolerance and intolerance in the classroom. Between the American presidential elections last fall and the upcoming French presidential elections this spring, organizers hope that this film festival on classroom diversity and adversity will encourage discussion and debate on the role of schools and education in France and beyond.

The films are:

Monday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m.: Julie Bertucelli’s La Cour de Babel (The School of Babel) (2013)

This film follows a year in a Paris schoolroom for children who have recently immigrated to France.

Monday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m.: Catherine Corsini’s La Belle Saison (Summertime) (2015)

Summertime follows Carole and Delphine as they fall in love against the backdrop of early feminist activism in 1971 France.

Monday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.: Abd Al Malik’s Qu’Allah bénisse la France! (May Allah Bless France!) (2015)

This film is the true story of a French teenager rising out of the underprivileged suburbs through love, education, and rap.

This festival is made possible with the support of the Williams College Department of Romance Languages, the Center for Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, and the Dively Committee for Human Sexuality and Diversity. The festival was co-organized by Jane Canova of the Center for Foreign Languages, and French Professors Annelle Curulla and Brian Martin who will introduce the films. For more on these films and screenings, see: http://imagescinema.org and http://cfllc.williams.edu.

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For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/map

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Published January 30, 2017