Central College will present six French films Feb. 3-26 through a $2,200 grant from Tournées Festival fund. All films are free and open to the public in van Emmerik Theater (Maytag Student Center). Films will be shown with English subtitles.
Tournées Film Festival is a program of the FACE Foundation and Cultural Services of the French Embassy to bring French cinema to American college and university campuses. Central’s film festival includes:
Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m., “Chocolat”
A classic of French cinema, this drama set in Cameroon combines romantic drama and a child’s growing awareness of the world. Beautifully filmed and directed, the film tells how colonialism kept French and Africans apart even as it brought them together.
Feb. 5 at 4 p.m., “School of Babel”
“School of Babel” follows a year in a Paris schoolroom for children who have recently immigrated to France. Using a surprisingly intimate fly-on-the-wall style, Julie Bertucelli’s documentary gives audiences unforgettable glimpses into the lives of tweens and teens from around the world.
Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m., “May Allah Bless France”
Acclaimed French rapper and novelist Abd Al Malik tells a coming-of-age story based on his own youth in the projects of Strasbourg. The film follows Régis, who relies on petty crime to fund his passion for music. While fellow musicians are lured into drug dealing, Régis finds salvation in French literature and his conversion to Sufi Islam.
Feb. 12 at 4 p.m., “Hippocrates, Diary of a French Doctor”
This film combines human drama with a hard-hitting look at beleaguered French hospitals. With medical student Benjamin (played by rising star Vincent Lacoste) as their guide, viewers take a backstage tour of a labyrinthine Paris hospital where life and death decisions make fuses run short.
Feb. 24 at 8:30 p.m., “Francophonia”
Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov’s heroically ambitious meditation on European culture and history is seen through the story of Paris’ Louvre museum, especially its fortunes during World War II.
Feb. 26 at 4 p.m., “Far from Men”
Algeria, 1954. The War of Independence approaches. Schoolteacher Daru (Viggo Mortensen) must accompany the accused murderer Mohamed (Reda Kateb) to trial in the closest city while local police fight the insurrection.
