Saturday 28 January

Lyric Theatre, 3pm

Sequins ( Brodeuses ), 2004

Seventeen-year-old Claire Moutiers loves embroidery. When she learns that she is pregnant, she quits her cashier job and intends to give birth in secret. Mrs. Melikian, a designer of haute couture, hires her on a temporary basis. Day by day, stitch by stitch, Claire's belly grows and the friendship between the two women strengthens. The direction, photography, sound and music contribute to the lyricism and dream-like quality of Eléonor Faucher's first feature film.

Saturday 4 February

Lyric Theatre, 3pm

It's Easier for a Camel (Il est plus facile pour un chameau), 2003

Federica, the daughter of a wealthy Italian industrialist who moves his family to Paris , feels guilty about her riches and trapped by her social status, her family and her relationships with men. Overwhelmed by her approaching inheritance and unable to sort out her complicated life, Federica seeks comfort in her wild imagination. Director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi expands the narrative with a dazzling array of childhood flashbacks, whimsical animations, fantasies, and character-enriching improvisations.

Saturday 11 February

Lyric Theatre, 3pm

Viva Algeria ( Viva Laldjérie ), 2003

French-Algerian director Nadir Moknèche explores the lives of three women in Algiers as they manage to get by despite their daily difficulties. The stories of a shop clerk, a former exotic dancer, and a prostitute highlight the tensions between modern and traditional society in a country emerging from civil war and dominated by men.

Saturday 18 February

Lyric Theatre, 3pm

Mooladé, 2004

African director Ousmane Sembene continues to provoke his audience, taking on the explosive issue of female circumcision, a practice still common in Africa . Four young village girls facing genital mutilation seek the help of Collé, a strong-willed woman who invokes the time-honored custom of “mooladé” (sanctuary) to protect the fugitives. This creates a conflict in the community, forcing every villager to take sides. Sembene sets the action amidst a colorful, vibrant tapestry of village life, employing an imaginative array of emblematic metaphors, mythic overtones and musical numbers.

Saturday 25 February

Lyric Theatre, 3pm

The director & the star of Amélie team up again!

A Very Long Engagement ( Un long dimanche de fiançailles ), 2004

After World War I, Mathilde (Audrey Tatou), sets out to find her fiancé, Manech, who left for the front and never returned. Poring through letters, searching for clues in hospitals and military archives, questioning survivors, wives and girlfriends, traveling to Paris and Alsace , Mathilde pieces together a puzzle that reveals the absurdity of WWI and the lives it changed forever. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet depicts the gravity of a long-forgotten war that took the lives of two million people in Europe .

This festival was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture (CNC).

Co-sponsored by the Science & Technology in Society Program, ASPECT, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Bob & Bea Mahan, the Women & Minority Artists & Scholars Lecture Series, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

Additional support provided by the departments of Philosophy, History, Geography, Sociology, Theatre Arts, Political Science, Music, and the Cercle Francophone.