Sponsored by the French Embassy in the U.S., the Department of Languages and Literature will present the Spring 2015 International Francophone Film Festival on campus as part of the 2015 Tournées Film Festival. The festival was brought to APSU thanks to a Tournées grant awarded to Professor Christophe Konkobo, who specializes in French literature and film.
“Each film deals with universally human experiences but presents them from a uniquely enriching cultural perspective,” Konkobo said.
The festival consists of six films that will be shown from Wednesday, Feb. 25, to Wednesday, March 25. The first film to be featured is “The Past” by Asghar Farhadi, which tells the story of a Parisian woman who must attempt to finalize her divorce in order to marry her boyfriend and move forward with her life. “The Past” will be shown in Clement Auditorium on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 5 p.m.
Other films to be shown as part of the festival include “The Attack” by Ziad Doueiri, a film about a Palestinian surgeon who struggles to save lives in a violent world, “Bastards” by Claire Denis, a revenge story based on French political scandals, and “Grisgris” by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, in which a man with a paralyzed leg manages to dazzle a discotheque with his sensational dancing, but runs into unexpected trouble. More information on the schedule of film showings can be found on the French Embassy’s website.
By garnering the sponsorship of the Tournées Film Festival, APSU joins schools such as George Washington University, the University of Notre Dame, Brandeis University and Rhodes College in offering students and campus communities the opportunity to see Francophone films.
The Department of Languages and Literature has plans to make the film festival an annual event, according to Konkobo.
