The Washington Jewish Film Festival kicks off its 24th year this week. Between February 27 and March 9, 64 films from 18 countries will be shown in the District. While the festival is honouring legendary Israeli film maker Avi Nesher and showcasing Polish cinema, there are (as always) a number of great French films on the agenda. A complete schedule of the festival can be found on at wjff.org. One of the films I'm personally curious about is The Jewish Cardinal, about former Archbishop of Paris Jean-Marie Lustiger. Known as the Jewish priest, he maintained his Jewish identity despite converting to Catholicism at a young age and rising through the ranks of the Church. I'm also looking ...
En Francais
My french Film Festival Point Com
MyFrenchFilmFestival.com was quite a success last year with 750,000 film viewings in different 189 countries so it's not a surprise that the leading worldwide French film festival on the Internet is back on our computers. The 4th edition of MyFrenchFilmFestival.com takes place between 17th January and 17th February and feature 10 features and 10 shorts in 13 different languages. That's all great, but my favourite part of the whole festival? The poster! I find it quite brilliant of course ;-) You can download the film on iTunes for a fee but if you're in DC, you can also screen them for free at Malmaison and Napoleon Bistro and Lounge. Starting on February 3rd, Napoleon will ...
Stromae Gets Some Love From Daily Candy
Towards the end of every week, there's a few emails I can't wait to see pop-up in my inbox. One of Frijolita's awesome Weekend Reads because a) she always shares the best links b) it means it's FRIDAY! The other is Daily Candy's Apps and Distractions email. There's always a couple of great finds in there. And this week, Daily Candy gave some love to Stromae, a Belgian singer that had the entire francophone world dancing to the gloomy beat-heavy hit Alors on Danse back in 2009. Four years later, he is back on top of the charts with his new album Racine Carrée. French music rarely makes it to American iTunes so it's a testament to the success of this album that you can actually buy it in the ...
Save the date: French Baseball Appreciation Night
So I may hate baseball, but it looks like some Frenchies are into the bat-and-ball game. There's even a French Baseball (and Softball) Federation. Apparently, we even have a French national team. I guess you learn something new everyday ;-) So the French Baseball Federation wants to help baseball adverse expats like myself better understand America's (second) favourite sport. Next Tuesday (June 25th), the FFBS is welcoming us to "French Baseball Appreciation Night." The federation's president, Didier Seminet, will be there to explain the rules of the game for those who still don't get it while the Nationals take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. Pour plus d'informations et pour achetez ...
Twitter Chat With the French Embassy in the US
I love that the French Embassy here in D.C. is (slowly) embracing social media and I love this new project they're doing: a twitter Q&A about France. The Internet is a great public diplomacy tool to connect with new audiences. Like any tool, it has limitations and its own set of challenges. For one, the language issue is tricky and diplomats have to strike the right balance between communicating in their own language for the audience back home and the expat community as well as the language of the country where they are posted to reach "the locals". Immediacy is a huge challenge as well. Social media, twitter in particular, strives on the right now. Diplomacy, on the other hand, is more ...
John Kerry Parle un Petit Peu Français…
Ok... so the new Secretary of State actually speaks a lot of français ;-) When he was running for president back in 2003-2004, speaking French was probably one of the worst thing John Kerry could have done, so he avoided it very carefully. Actually, he even avoided speaking French at a press conference less than 3 weeks ago. But that was back in Washington... Once on an official visit to France as Secretary of State, it's not so bad. I mean, everyone knows that with the French, flattery will pretty much get you everything you want... tell us our food is good, and that our language is beautiful (even better, speak it!) and we'll love you forever. John Kerry's a smart guy, he knows that... so ...