1
May/10

WORLD NOMADS LEBANON

1
May/10

Bernard Khoury will give a free talk on Lebanese architecture and public space at FIAF on May 6

French Institute Alliance Française
Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59th St.
Le Skyroom, 22 East 60th St.
Tinker Auditorium, 55 East 59th St.
May 1-29, free – $40
212-355-6100
www.fiaf.org

This year FIAF’s annual spring journey heads to Lebanon for a month of live performance, film screenings, art, talks, and more. The festival, which covered Africa in 2008 and Haiti in 2009, begins May 1 with the Bassam Saba Ensemble playing in Florence Gould Hall, followed on May 2 by three consecutive free talks at Le Skyroom, with writers Elias Khoury, Rawi Hage, and Alexander Najjar in conjunction with the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. On Tuesdays from May 4 through May 25, CinémaTuesdays will present such films as Maroun Bagdadi’s HORS LA VIE, Jocelyne Saab’s ONCE UPON A TIME: BEIRUT, and Simon El-Habre’s THE ONE MAN VILLAGE in Florence Gould Hall. Meanwhile, the Film Society of Lincoln center will be hosting “The Calm After the Storm: Making Sense of Lebanon’s Civil War,” more than thirty films that give a fascinating overview into the history of the embattled nation. On May 21, Wajdi Mouawad and Jane Birkin will team up for staged readings of his “Je t’embrasse pour finir” (in French) and “La sentinelle” (in English); admission is free but advance reservations are required; author, actor, and director Wajdi will also be giving a free talk May 19 in Le Skyroom. World Nomads will also feature a trio of architecture talks on successive Thursdays, with Bernard Khoury on May 6, “Public Space: Memory, Boundary, Catastrophe” on May 13, and “Modern Architecture in Beirut: Reconstruction & Cultural Identity” on May 20. During the festival, the FIAF Gallery will be displaying “Cedrus Libani: Roots & Memory,” an exhibition of new and old work by Lebanese-American artist Nabil Nahas, while “My Umi Said . . . New Work from Lebanon” features multimedia pieces by five progressive Lebanese artists, held off-site at Kleio Projects (May 7-28, 153½ Stanton St.).