The Magic of Cinema: "France awaits you"
International travel requires a valid passport, an airline ticket, an itinerary, luggage and a sense of delight in the wonderful places and experiences you can encounter.
There is a way to experience the delights and wonders of lands beyond our home without leaving home. It requires a movie ticket, a short drive to your local cinema and, depending on your tastes, a choc-top ice cream, box of popcorn and/or a glass of wine.
The magic of film making and cinema converts us into armchair travellers.
And film festivals transport us across the globe like a direct injection of culture.
Those of you who live in Australia are about to have the doors open to the Alliance Française French Film Festival 2021.
Travel to France without leaving home.
Karine Mauris, Cultural Attache of the French Embassy and Artistic Director of this year’s Alliance Française French Film Festival puts it this way, “Right now, with Covid restrictions, we can’t travel. I love Paris and how can I be in Paris, just watching movies and escape from the reality right now.”
LISTEN Karine Mauris: “Movies are like books and jazz”.
And what can you expect from this year’s selection of films in the Alliance Française French Film Festival?
Karine explains, “It’s national. It's all about France. You can take time over one month and see a lot of movies“. Listen as she speaks about her approach to and vision for this year’s festival.
LISTEN Karine Mauris: “Festivals must have a vision”.
In Karine’s role as Cultural Attache of the French Embassy, she approaches her role with the notion of bridging cultures.
LISTEN Karine Mauris: “Bridging Cultures ”.
I know people who immerse themselves in film festivals to partake of the cultural diversity and variety of films and others who tend to dip their toes by sampling a small selection of films. Whichever film person you are--fanatic, cinephile, or occasional viewer--The Alliance Française French Film Festival has plenty to offer, including a film titled Mandibles, about two brothers who discover a giant fly and raise it as their pet, that Karine describes as weird. And there’s nothing wrong with weird. Weird films will be the subject of a future blog post on Screen Speak.
LISTEN: Karine Mauris: “Diverse range of films as a reflection of real life”
France Awaits You
Alliance Française French Film Festival in cinemas across Australia
https://www.affrenchfilmfestival.org
Visit the website, pick your city, peruse the films and book your tickets.
Images provided by and © Alliance Française French Film Festival 2021
Interview with Karine Mauris © Stefan Kussy
Coming soon to Screen Speak:
Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 masterpiece of French New Wave cinema, Breathless (screening at the Alliance Française French Film Festival 2021 in a restored 4K version).
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