Tag Archives: french institute alliance francaise

BASTILLE DAY CELEBRATION 2019

FIAF-hosted Bastille Day celebration packs them in on Sixtieth St. (photo by Michael George)

Sixtieth St. between Fifth & Lexington Aves.
Sunday, July 14, free – $75, 12 noon – 5:00 pm
bastilledayny.org
fiaf.org

On July 14, 1789, a Parisian mob stormed the Bastille prison, a symbolic victory that kicked off the French Revolution and the establishment of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Ever since, July 14 has been a national holiday celebrating liberté, égalité, and fraternité. In New York City, the Bastille Day festivities are set for Sunday, July 14, along Sixtieth St., where the French Institute Alliance Française hosts its annual daylong party of food and drink, music and dance, and other special activities. The celebration is highlighted by the free live performance “Gérard Chambre: Si on chantait l’Amour” in Florence Gould Hall at 3:00 and a screening of C’est la vie! (Le sens de la fête) (Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, 2017) in the hall at 5:30 ($16). The elegant Champagne, Cocktail, and Jazz Party takes place at 1:30 and 3:30 in the Skyroom ($75), with live music by the Avalon Jazz Band, five different Champagnes, cocktails by Giffard, chocolates from Jacques Torres, macarons from Ladurée, and hors d’oeuvres from Maman Bakery, while a Summer in Provence tasting occurs in Tinker Auditorium from 12:00 to 4:30, with three wines, one beer, one Ricard cocktail, and cheese and charcuterie ($30).

The Champagne, Cocktail, and Jazz Party is a highlight of annual FIAF Bastille Day festivities

The French Garden between Madison and Fifth Aves. includes booths from Atelier Paulin, French Wink (Atelier Novo, Calisson Inc, Emma & Chloé, Merci Bisous, Môme Care, Tissage Moutet), Ladurée, Strasbourg Tourism Office, and Saint James, while Market Booths between Lexington and Madison features Hanami Designs, Katia Lambey Expressions, Alhambra Lifestyle, Barraca / the Shack Collective, Brasserie Cognac, Epicerie Boulud & Bar Boulud, Financier Pâtisserie, Harmless Harvest, Le Bec Fin, Lelo Fine Foods, Macaron Café, MAD Foods, Maman Bakery, Meska Sweets, Mille-Feuille Bakery Café, Miss Madeleine NYC, Oliviers & Co, Perrier, Pistache NYC, Sel Magique, Simply Gourmand, Sud de France, the Crepe Escape, the American Association of French Speaking Health Pro, BZH New York, Canal +, Exploria Resorts, France Amerique, Green Mountain Energy, Sheridan Fencing Academy, and TV5 Monde / Sling TV.

There will also be a bevy of free outside performances and events, beginning at 12:35 with Joanna Wronska doing the Can-Can, followed by Chloé Perrier & French Heart Jazz Band (12:40), live Art with COCOVAN (12:50), mime with Catherine Gasta (12:50), music by the Love Show (1:10, 2:15, 3:15), a feather dance wby Joanna Wronska (1:25), music by the Blue Dahlia (1:30), Les P’tites Ouvreuses (2:30), the Hungry March Band (3:00), and Rodeo Joe (3:30), a Zouk dance lesson with Franck Muhel, and the Citroën Car Show (12:55 – 5:00). And for the kids, the FIAF Library hosts a trio of Fly Away with Books workshops: “Geometry of Animals with Lucie Brunelli” at 1:00, “Full Speed Ahead! with Cruschiform” at 2:00, and “Pop-up Art with Anouck Boisrobert & Louis Rigaud” at 3:00.

THE HEART (RÉPARER LES VIVANTS)

Emmanuel Noblet adapted, directed, and stars in Réparer les vivants at FIAF (photo © Aglaé Bory)

French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Wednesday, May 8, $40, 7:30
212-355-6160
fiaf.org

French actor Emmanuel Noblet will be at FIAF on May 8 for the US premiere of the one-night-only, three-hundredth performance of The Heart (Réparer les vivants), his solo show based on the 2013 novel by Maylis de Kerangal. Noblet, who has appeared in such films as The Conquest and Chic! and such series as Scalp and Act of Crime, adapted and directed the show, in collaboration with Benjamin Guillard. The story takes place over the course of one twenty-four-hour period as a nineteen-year-old surfer dies tragically and there’s a race against time to harvest his heart for an immediate organ donation. The ninety-minute Théâtre Montansier de Versailles coproduction features the voices of de Kerangal, Guillard, Alix Poisson, Vincent Garanger, Constance Dollé, Stéphane Facco, Évelyne Pelerin, Anthony Poupard, Olivier Saladin, and Hélène Viviès, with lighting and videography by Arno Veyrat, sound by Sébastien Trouvé, acoustics by Cristián Sotomayor, and medical imagery by Pierre-Yves Litzler.

TILT: THE YOUNG GIRL, THE DEVIL AND THE MILL

The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill will make its English-language world premiere at the TILT festival this weekend (photo © Christophe Raynaud)

TILT Kids Festival
French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
March 2-3, $25-$45, 2:00
Festival runs March 2-31
212-355-6100
tiltkidsfestival.org
www.fiaf.org

The fourth annual family-friendly TILT festival kicks off March 2-3 at FIAF with the English-language world premiere of Festival d’Avignon director Olivier Py’s The Young Girl, the Devil and the Mill, a musical fairy tale inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Girl without Hands.” Adapted from the original French production, La Jeune Fille, le Diable et le Moulin, the specially commissioned fifty-minute show explores such complex topics as memory, death, and faith as a father contemplates a deal with an unholy character. Alex Burnette plays the Prince, Nadia Duncan the Girl, Whit K. Lee the Devil, and Ben Rauch the Gardener; the music is by Stéphane Leach, with text and direction by Py. Presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Institute Alliance Française, the festival, cocurated for the first time by Laurent Clavel and Courtney Geraghty, focuses on diversity. “Today, in a world where everyone is discussing politics, it’s important to emphasize that this is where it all starts,” Geraghty said in a statement. “This year’s TILT provides mind-expanding content to children so that they can further develop their imagination and critical thinking about serious issues surrounding their daily lives. The arts can inspire a new generation of cultural thinkers, political leaders, and responsible citizens of the world.” TILT continues through March 31 with such other shows as Marc Boutavant’s The Dumpster Ball at the French Embassy (free with RSVP), Okwui Okpokwasili’s Adaku’s Revolt at Abrons Arts Center ($15-$20), and Guillaume Pigé and Theatre Re’s The Nature of Forgetting at the New Victory Theater ($17-$42).

CROSSING THE LINE: JEANNE BALIBAR IN LES HISTORIENNES

French star Jeanne Balibar will be at FIAF for three special events during October

French star Jeanne Balibar will present the world premiere of her one-woman show, Les Historiennes, at FIAF on October 13

French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
October 13, $30-$60, 7:00
Film series continues Tuesdays through October 30
212-355-6100
crossingthelinefestival.org
heymancenter.org

On October 13, extraordinary French actress Jeanne Balibar will be at Florence Gould Hall for the world premiere of Les Historiennes (“The Historians”), a one-woman show that concludes FIAF’s annual Crossing the Line multidisciplinary festival. Balibar, the daughter of a renowned philosopher and a well-respected physicist, will portray three characters in the presentation: the Murderer, based on Anne-Emmanuelle Demartini’s writings on Violette Nozière, a teenager who killed her father in the 1930s; the Slave, based on Charlotte de Castelnau’s writings on several historical issues; and the Actress, about French stage and film star Delphine Seyrig and her father, archaeologist Henri Seyrig. In conjunction with Les Historiennes, FIAF has been hosting “Brilliant Quirky: Jeanne Balibar on Film,” consisting of ten Balibar movies on Tuesdays through October 30. On October 9 she will be at FIAF for a Q&A following the 7:30 sneak preview screening of Barbara, directed by Mathieu Amalric, who was celebrated at FIAF three years ago with his own film series and his US theatrical debut in Le Moral des ménages (“Fight or Flight”).

Jeanne Balibar will be at FIAF on October 9 to discuss her latest film, Mathieu Amalric’s Barbara

In addition, Maison Française at Columbia is hosting several free, related discussions with the scholars that inspired Les Historiennes, in French with English translations. Last night, “Writing History from a Crime: The Violette Nozière Case” featured Demartini in conversation with Stephane Gerson and Judith Surkis. On October 10 at 6:00, “Marriage and Slavery in the Early Portuguese Atlantic World” features de Castelnau-L’Estoile in conversation with Amy Chazkel and Roquinaldo Ferreira, followed on October 11 at 6:00 by “Biography and the Social Sciences: the Case of Claude Lévi-Strauss” with Loyer in conversation with Emmanuelle Saada and Camille Robcis. And on October 12, Balibar will join Demartini, Loyer, and de Castelnau-L’Estoile for “Women’s voices, women’s stories” at 1:00. “Brilliant Quirky: Jeanne Balibar on Film” continues with such other Balibar flicks as Raúl Ruiz’s Comedy of Innocence and 2013’s Par exemple, Électre, her first film as a director, a collaboration with Pierre Léon in which she also stars.

BRILLIANT QUIRKY: JEANNE BALIBAR ON FILM

French star Jeanne Balibar will be at FIAF for three special events during October

French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Tuesday, September 11 & 18, and Tuesdays in October, $14 (free on September 11), 4:00 & 7:30
Les Historiennes October 13, 30-$60, 7:00
212-355-6100
fiaf.org/events

FIAF pays tribute to French stage and screen star Jeanne Balibar with a two-month retrospective consisting of ten of her films, from 1997’s Mange ta soupe and 1998’s Only God Sees Me to a sneak preview of Barbara, her third collaboration with Mathieu Amalric. Despite the subtitle of the CinéSalon series, “Brilliant Quirky: Jeanne Balibar on Film,” the César Award-winning actress will actually be at FIAF as well, for Q&As following screenings of Jacques Rivette’s Tomorrow’s Another Day on October 2 at 7:30 and Barbara on October 9 at 7:30 — in addition to performing live in the one-woman show Les Historiennes in Florence Gould Hall on October 13, featuring Balibar reading essays by Anne-Emmanuelle Demartini, Charlotte de Castelnau, and Emmanuelle Loyer and discussing the profound impact the works have had on her life and career; the three historians will join Balibar in this Crossing the Line world premiere. The film series, which runs September 11 to October 30, also includes Pierre Léon’s L’Idiot and Raúl Ruiz’s Comedy of Innocence, with all screenings followed by a wine and beer reception. Don’t miss this opportunity to see one of the world’s most exquisite actresses in this exciting FIAF presentation.

LOUIS GARREL — LOVE SONGS AND HEARTBREAK: JEALOUSY

Louis Garrel plays his grandfather in film directed by his father and also featuring his sister

CinéSalon: JEALOUSY (LA JALOUSIE) (Philippe Garrel, 2013)
French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Tuesday, March 20, $14, 4:00 & 7:30
Series continues through April 17
212-355-6100
fiaf.org
www.distribfilms.com

Nearly fifty years after the release of his first film, the short Les enfants désaccordés, post-New Wave auteur Philippe Garrel has made one of his most intimate and personal works, the deeply sensitive drama Jealousy. Garrel’s son, Louis, who has previously appeared in his father’s Regular Lovers, Frontier of the Dawn, and A Burning Hot Summer, stars as Louis, a character based on Garrel’s own father, essentially playing his own grandfather. As the film opens, Louis, an actor, is leaving his wife, Clothilde (Rebecca Convenant), for another woman, Claudia (Anna Mouglalis). A talented but unsuccessful actress, Claudia immediately bonds with Louis’s young daughter, Charlotte (Olga Milshtein). But soon jealousies of all kinds — professional, romantic, maternal, paternal, residential, and financial — affect all the characters’ desires to find happiness in life.

Shot in widescreen black-and-white by Belgian cinematographer Willy Kurant, who has photographed such films as Jean-Luc Godard’s Masculin Féminin, Agnès Varda’s Les creatures, and Maurice Pialat’s À nos amours during his glorious career, Jealousy is a subtle meditation on the many fears that can accompany love. Somewhat of an innocent, Louis doesn’t yet realize the consequences of his actions, thinking that he can slide through life and good things will just happen. But as his love for the secretive Claudia grows, so do the problems they all encounter. Philippe Garrel wrote the film, which is divided into two sections, titled “I Kept the Angels” and “Sparks in a Powder Keg,” with three collaborators, Caroline Deruas, Arlette Langmann, and Marc Cholodenko, who each took on different scenes, resulting in a choppiness that can be off-putting and disorienting at times, but the strong performances (featuring significant improvisation), tender pacing, quiet interludes, and melancholic score by Jean-Louis Aubert overcome that drawback. The film is very much a family affair — in addition to Philippe directing his son playing Philippe’s father, Philippe’s daughter, Esther Garrel, plays Louis’s sister — adding to the poignancy and intimacy of this very moving story. Jealousy is screening March 20 at 4:00 and 7:30 in the FIAF CinéSalon series “Louis Garrel: Love Songs & Heartbreak,” consisting of films starring and/or directed by Garrel, continuing with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s Un château en Italie paired with Garrel’s short La Règle de trois on April 3, Garrel’s feature Two Friends on April 10, and Christophe Honoré’s Love Songs and Garrel’s Little Tailor on April 17. All screenings will be followed by a wine and beer reception.

BEST ACTRESS: A CÉSAR-WINNING SHOWDOWN

And the FIAF audience award for favorite César-winning Best Actress ever goes to . . .

RED CARPET SCREENING AND PARTY
French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Tuesday, March 6, $14, 4:00 & 7:30
212-355-6100
www.fiaf.org

The ninetieth Academy Awards will be given out tonight, but there is also excitement building for another highly anticipated movie contest, the conclusion of FIAF’s two-month CinéSalon series “Best Actress: A César-Winning Showdown.” On Tuesday nights from January 9 to February 20, the French Institute Alliance Française presented films featuring nine of France’s finest actresses, each of whom has won the coveted César for Best Actress. On March 6 at 4:00 and 7:30, the winner will be announced with a special surprise screening and wine and beer reception (in addition to Champagne at the later show), and attendees are encouraged to come in festival attire. The outstanding nominees are Marion Cotillard, Isabelle Adjani, Nathalie Baye, Emmanuelle Riva, Romy Schneider, Juliette Binoche, Catherine Deneuve, Sandrine Bonnaire, and Isabelle Huppert. FIAF has offered a hint about the film that will be screened, starring the audience-voted favorite César winner ever: “This French cinema gem will keep you at the edge of your seat and make you laugh too.”