French Film Festival Coming to CSU Dominguez Hills

The California State University, Dominguez Hills Department of History has been awarded a grant from the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE) to bring the Tournees Festival of French Films to campus in April. CSU Dominguez Hills is one of only 108 universities across the United States and Puerto Rico selected by the nonprofit FACE to host the festival this year. With a mission to promote French-American relations through arts and cultural programs, FACE created the Tournees Festival in 1995 to expose more U.S. students to contemporary French-made films, especially those movies and documentaries with limited distribution.

History professor Laura Talamante, who is organizing the festival at CSUDH, said the Tournees Festival not only introduces filmgoers to a slate of interesting films they might not otherwise see, but also provides a springboard for academic discussions on a number of topics. See below for the film titles and screening dates.

According to Professor Talamante: "These films provide an opportunity to explore such themes as the relationship between WWII, colonialism, struggles for democracy, liberty and equality, de-colonization, immigration, racism and citizenship."

The films and discussions will be free and open to the public. The films will be presented with English translations.

Grants for universities to host Tournees Festival are made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture (CNC), the Florence Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation, highbrow entertainment, agnes b. and the Franco-American Cultural Fund. For more information, visit www.facecouncil.com/tourness/participants.html

 

Tournees Festival of French Films at CSUDH 2008 Schedule
The first four films will be shown in the Loker Student Union. The fifth will screen in LCH A103.

Film 1: Tuesday, April 8: INDIGENES (Days of Glory)
Loker Student Union. Events begin at 6:30 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m.

CSUDH President Mildred Garcˆ‚a will officially open the festival. Dr. Munashe Furusa, chair of Africana Studies, will introduce the film and will be joined by Dr. Hamoud Salhi, Political Science, for discussion afterward. The evening will also feature a performance of African dance by CSUDH students. A display of African artifacts and traditional African music to highlight the themes of the film will also be presented.  Hors d’Äôoeuvres provided.

Synopsis: While fighting for freedom and the liberation of Italy, the Alps and eastern France during World War II, African soldiers known as "Indigenes" must face tremendous racism in the military, and in French society, forcing them to struggle for equality of treatment at every turn.

http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/indigenes.html

 

 

 

 

 

Film 2: Wednesday, April 9: MONSIEUR IBRAHIM
Loker Student Union. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m.

Foreign language professor Dr. Michael Galant will introduce the film. Following the screening will be a panel discussion on navigating identity formation, personal and national, in a growing multi-cultural context. Panelists include Dr. Ericka Verba, History; Dr. Hamoud Salhi, Political Science; Lui Amador, coordinator, Multicultural Center; and Xhercis Mendez, CSUDH McNair scholar.  Dessert, coffee and tea provided.

Synopsis: Against the backdrop of cultural and societal shifts taking place in Paris in the 1960s, in a working-class neighborhood two unlikely characters ’Äî a young Jewish boy, Moise, and an elderly Muslim, Mr. Ibrahim ’Äî begin a friendship. Mr. Ibrahim is a delicate film about humility, friendship and tolerance. http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/monsieuribrahim.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Film 3: Tuesday, April 15: S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE
Loker Student Union.
Events begin at 5:30 p.m., film begins at 6:45 p.m.

The evening begins with music, Cambodian dance performances by Spirit of Khmer Angkor, a slideshow on Cambodia, cultural displays and a book signing of Cambodians in Long Beach (2008) by Dr. Sue Needham, Anthropology, and Dr. Karen Quintiliani, CSU Long Beach Anthropology professor. Needham will introduce the film, and a panel discussion will follow. Panelists include Bryant Ben, Peter Long, Sithea San, and Gary Ung. Dessert and tea provided.

Synopsis: Director Rithy Panh spent three years to find and interview victims and their torturers at S21, the main detention center of the Khmer Rouge regime that caused the death of more than 1.2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. In S21, they face each other in an attempt to explain and understand. http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/s21.html

 

 

 

Film 4: Thursday, April 17: LE PLAFOND DE VERRE (The Glass Ceiling)
Loker Student Union. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m.

History professor Dr. Laura Talamante will introduce the film. A panel discussion on the film’Äôs theme of invisible barriers in society will be held immediately afterward. Panelists include Dr. Clare Weber, Sociology, and Ivonne L. Heinze-Balcazar, program coordinator of the CSUDH Women’Äôs Studies Program. Dessert, coffee and tea provided.

Synopsis: Director Yamina Benguigui examines the integration in France of immigrants in the workplace and provides moving testimonies of qualified students who, because of their obviously foreign last names, were not called back for job interviews. The documentary also includes interviews with experts who discuss the reasons behind discrimination, which include France's colonial past as well as deeply entrenched corporate practices, and the difficulty that individuals of foreign origins face. http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/plafonddeverre.html

 

 

 

 

Film5: Saturday, April 19: PARIS JE T'AIME
LCH A103. Presented as part of Unity Fest and Day at Dominguez
Doors open at 2:00 p.m., film begins at 2:15 p.m.  Popcorn provided.

Carole Desgroppes-Brown, program coordinator of CSUDH’Äôs Toro Productions, will introduce the film and its sponsorship as part of Unity Fest and A Day at Dominguez.

Synopsis: In 18 short films (representing 18 of the 20 Paris neighborhoods, arrondissments), 18 different directors tell the story of Paris. This atypical collective film bears the hallmark of major international filmmakers and the names of stellar actors such as Natalie Portman, Gena Rowlands, Elijah Wood, Ben Gazzara and Catherine Deneuve. http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/parisjetaime.html