The University of Southern Indiana College of Liberal Arts and World Languages and Cultures Department will host the Albertine Cinémathèque French Film Festival on Fridays beginning January 19 through February 23. All films will be shown with English subtitles and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Wright Administration Building, Room WA1. Showings are open to the public at no charge.
“This year, our festival theme is The Secret Self: Uncovering Identity in Francophone Cinema. This theme of grappling with identity is especially pertinent on our campus,†said Dr. Alexandra Natoli, Assistant Professor of French. “College is a time when students may struggle profoundly with their own senses of identity and selfhood, occasionally forced to negotiate between the person they are on campus and the person they are around their families. With this theme, we seek to explore permutations of a theme which is both deeply personal yet universally applicable.”
Through the generosity of Villa Albertine for gifting the Albertine Cinémathèque Festival Grant to USI, six films have been selected for the series: L’innocent, Saint Omer, Josep, Casablanca Beats, Monsieur Klein and La Gravité.
“As educators, we particularly value films which speak to a wide variety of lived experiences in the Francophone world,†said Dr. Jessica Garcés Jensen, Associate Professor of French. “We seek out films which encourage students and community members to question preconceived ideas about who speaks French, what they look like and where they live.”
