Home » Feature » Art and Culture
Ah bon! Festival honors all things French
Print Edition
THE 21st La Francophonie, a festival celebrating the French language and culture, kicked off on Thursday and is set to run through March 30. The festival will include hundreds of events in cities across China.
Organizers have also invited an array of celebrated French-speaking artists, filmmakers, painters, writers and musicians to present the rich and diverse culture behind the French language.
The festival is co-organized by the International Organization of La Francophonie, a group comprised of representatives from French-speaking countries, in collaboration with local Chinese partners. This year’s celebrations are meant to highlight the themes of youth, creativity and innovation.
A highlight from previous years, the popular Francophone Song Competition is set to return to this year’s festival. This popular event invites young Chinese between 18 and 25 to show off their singing talents and enjoy French music.
Music lovers who don’t feel like competing can take part in French-language karaoke at over 3,500 KTV venues across the country. Participating KTVs will offer a catalogue of classic French hits such “La Vie en Rose” by Edith Piaf or “S’il suffisait d’aimer” by Celine Dion, to name just a few.
The festival’s recent opening ceremony in Beijing turned the focus to Africa, with Congolese photographer Baudouin Mouanda presenting his exhibition on the Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant People. Also known as La Sape, the society is a social movement centered in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo.
Its members attempt to embody the style and manners of their colonial predecessors.
Also at the ceremony, Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako presented his 2014 film “Timbuktu” and took part in a discussion with audience members after the screening. The movie won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Francois Chalais Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, and was also nominated at the 87th Academy Awards for best foreign-language film. The acclaimed drama centers on the occupation of Timbuktu in Mali by Islamic extremist group Ansar Dine.
As for literary events, a constellation of French authors is slated to take part in this year’s festival. Here in Shanghai, novelist, children’s writer and translator Agnes Desarthe will meet readers tomorrow afternoon at Sinan Mansions for an event hosted in collaboration with the area’s popular reading club.
Desarthe has translated the works of Lois Lowry, Anne Fine, Cynthia Ozic and Jay Mclnerney into French. Her own novels have won numerous prizes and two of her nine adult books have been published into Chinese. Some of her illustrated children’s books have also been published in China.
Another Shanghai highlight is a rock show from Izia Higelin, who will perform at the Shanghai QSW Cultural Center, as part of her first tour in China.
Local highlights
Meeting with Agnes Desarthe
Date: March 13, 2pm
Venue: Sinan Mansion, 523 Fuxing Rd M.
Izia Higelin concert
Date: March 25, 8pm
Admission: 280 yuan (pre-sale)/380 yuan (at door)
Tel: 6266-1110
Address: 179, Yichang Rd
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
