French Cinema
French & Francophone Film & Cinema
Our class in French and Francophone cinema and film offers a diverse mix of classic and contemporary French language films. The instructor, Manon Bellet, is a French cinephile who has a real passion for movies.
In this course, after watching French language films, we will examine their directors and actors, analyze the themes and language, and learn vocabulary and expressions related to a specific film and to cinema in general. Each class includes an open discussion in French and English.
This course provides a deeper understanding and analysis of French language films in a relaxed environment on Zoom. Because the class is virtual, the students are asked to watch the film (in French with English subtitles) before the lesson.
Class meets Wednesday night (see dates below) at 6:45 p.m. online on Zoom.
*Note that on dates of June 19, June 26, and July 3 class will meet at 12 p.m.
Fee: $110 for the full semester.
Please find below the list of dates and films for this semester. For more information, please contact Manon Bellet at manon@lunionfrancaise.org
Theme this semester: Documentaries
This series of 8 classes will present 8 documentaries on a variety of subjects related to French culture, including important places, well-known and little-known personalities, racial issues, women's rights and the evolution of rural life over the last fifty years. They will be the subject of discussion and questions about a complex and constantly evolving French culture.
Mercredi le 15 mai – Wednesday, May 15
Cousin Jules, 1972
A lost masterpiece, now exquisitely restored, Dominique Benicheti's COUSIN JULES is a beautiful, immersive documentary portrait of a farmer living with his wife in the French countryside. One of the earliest documentaries to be shot in CinemaScope with stereo sound, it is a record of a time and a way of life that has long ago vanished.
Mercredi le 22 mai – Wednesday, May 22
Too Black to Be French, 2015
In this documentary film, Isabelle Boni-Claverie explores the role of race and the persistence of racism in France, as well as the impact of the French colonial past. Through an exploration of her personal family history, and interviews with historians and academics, TOO BLACK TO BE FRENCH peels back the layers of race relations in supposedly institutionally colorblind France. Boni-Claverie, a French-Ivorian, who grew up in upper class French society, unpacks how socio-economic privilege doesn’t mean protection from racial discrimination. TOO BLACK TO BE FRENCH also features interviews with acclaimed sociologists and historians to help contextualize racial history in France.
Mercredi le 29 mai – Wednesday, May 29
Maison du Bonheur, 2017
A portrait of 77-year-old Juliane Sellam, who is as full of life and vibrancy as the iconic Parisian neighborhood she calls home. Director Sofia Bohdanowicz, however, doesn’t turn her camera on these frequently photographed streets (once walked by the likes of Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh) or attractions like Sacré Coeur. Instead, Bohdanowicz focuses on the daily life of Sellam in the pre-war apartment this French astrologer has lived in for half a century.
Mercredi le 5 juin – Wednesday, June 5
The Paris Opera: Behind the Scenes of a French Institution, 2016
Sweeping in scope yet full of intimate moments, THE PARIS OPERA offers a candid look behind the scenes of one of the world's foremost performing arts institutions. Over the course of one tumultuous season, director Jean-Stéphane Bron nimbly juggles multiple storylines - from ballet and opera rehearsals, to strike negotiations, last minute crises and ticket disputes - revealing the dedication of the talented personnel who bring breathtaking spectacles to the stage night after night.
Mercredi le 12 juin – Wednesday, June 12
Burgundy: People with a Passion for Wine, 2016
This documentary explores the vitality and joie de vivre lifestyle of the local people against the backdrop of the region’s oldest, traditional wine celebratory events of the annual Trois Glorieuses. Through a colorful mosaic of stories, this BURGUNDY aims to demystify the world-famous French winemaking region and offers a rare insider glimpse into the lives of the passionate people working in Burgundy’s wine industry.
Mercredi le 19 juin – Wednesday, June 19
An Encounter with Simone Weil, 2010
The film tells the story of French philosopher, activist, and mystic, Simone Weil (1909-1943)-- a woman Albert Camus described as "the only great spirit of our time." On her quest to understand Simone Weil, filmmaker Julia Haslett confronts profound questions of moral responsibility both within her own family and the larger world. From the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War to anti-war protests in Washington DC, from intimate exchanges between the filmmaker and her older brother who struggles with depression to captivating interviews with people who knew Simone Weil, the film takes us on an unforgettable journey into the heart of what it means to be a compassionate human being.
Mercredi le 26 juin – Wednesday, June 26
Modern Life, 2008
Photographer and filmmaker Raymond Depardon is renowned for his documentation of the French countryside. In Modern Life he casts an affectionate and irreverent eye on a small community of farmers as they are confronted by the problems and challenges the contemporary world brings. Treated with equal suspicion, strangers and women are gradually accepted into the fabric of the farming life so as to sustain a way of life that celebrates the traditions and methods of old. The Cévennes region in southern France is a region of hilly passes, lonely farms and lonelier farmers. There we are introduced to aged bachelor brothers Marcel and Raymond Privat, whose old-fashioned shepherding methods and primitive farming techniques lead them into contention with their younger nephew and his 'outsider' wife from Calais. Then there's dairy farmers Germaine and Marcel Challaye, who struggle to maintain their diminishing flock with no help from their numerous children, and chain-smoking solitary farmer Paul Argaud, the very epitome of disillusion and governmental disinheritance. Finally the Jeanroy family offer a bleak picture of those that stay against the odds, with their son Daniel, who would much rather be doing anything else. Through portraits of these unforgettable people, Modern Life becomes a witness to farmers' lives, values, and stories: all that binds them to the land, and its legacy.
Mercredi le 3 juillet – Wednesday, July 3
Myth of a Colorblind France, 2020
For more than a century, African American artists, authors, musicians and others have traveled to Paris to liberate themselves from the racism of the United States. What made these African Americans choose France? Why were the French fascinated by African Americans? And to what extent was and is France truly colorblind? Alan Govenar’s film investigates these questions and examines racism that has plagued not only African Americans fleeing the United States, but Africans and people of color in France today. The film explores the lives and careers of renowned African Americans who emigrated to Paris, including Josephine Baker, James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Beauford Delaney, and Barbara Chase-Riboud, and includes rare footage of Henry Ossawa Tanner in Paris. Features interviews with renowned author Michel Fabre, jazz aficionado Francis Hofstein, poet James Emanuel, historian Tyler Stovall, filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris, graffiti artist Quik, hip hop producer Ben the Glorious Bastard, African drummer Karim Toure, and many more