Ciné-salon virtuel [weekly online event]

Every Friday at 2pm!
[ONLINE EVENT]

Enjoy our best recommendations for French-language cinema, and join our new weekly ciné-salon online event to discuss them in French (to the best of your ability), led by our instructors!

During this time of quarantine, connect with others through our shared love of cinema and Francophone cultures. This is a great way to practice your French, but is first and foremost meant to entertain you and help us all socialize.

All levels are welcome to join. Our instructors will lead the ciné-salon with thematic questions and organize discussion groups by level.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Each week, we have chosen a film for you to view at home (our selections are available via various streaming services).
Every participant watches the film before the discussion at a time that fits their own schedule.
On Fridays at 2pm, participants can join the online Zoom meeting here. When prompted, enter your first name and your French level (A1, A2, B1, B2, or C1). This will help us organize discussion groups by level.
Instructions on how to join a Zoom meeting can be found here (jump to step 4).
A list of questions will be made available on this page the day before each session, as a proposed structure for the discussion (see table below).
Have fun discussing the films with other participants in a relaxed atmosphere! Each event will last about 90min.

JOIN THE VIRTUAL EVENT

SCHEDULE AND LIST OF FILMS

DATE	FILM	WHERE TO WATCH	SYNOPSIS & DOCUMENTS
Friday, June 26 Add to Calendar	La Promesse de l'Aube (Promise at Dawn) by Eric Barbier	Watch free on Kanopy or Rent/Buy on Amazon Prime	The life of French author Romain Gary, from his childhood through his experiences in World War II; and the story of his self-sacrificing mother, who raised him alone. QUESTIONS
Friday, July 10 Add to Calendar	La Femme Nikita by Luc Besson	Watch free on Kanopy or Rent/Buy on YouTube / Vudu	Convicted felon Nikita, instead of going to jail, is given a new identity and trained to be a secret police assassin controlled by the government. Her lonely life is warmed when she falls in love with a man who knows nothing of her mysterious life.
Friday, July 17 Add to Calendar	Monsieur Lazhar by Philippe Falardeau	Watch free on Kanopy or Rent/Buy on YouTube / Vudu / Amazon Prime / iTunes	An 11-year-old pupil discovers that one of the school teachers has just committed suicide. Bachir Lazhar arrives at the school to fill the tragic void and help the children cope with their loss.
Friday, July 24 Add to Calendar	Au revoir là-haut (See You Up There) by Albert Dupontel	Rent/Buy on YouTube or Vudu	In 1918, just days before the Armistice, a tragic act of war intrinsically links two soldiers.
Friday, July 31 Add to Calendar	OSS 117 : Le Caire, nid d'espions (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) by Michel Hazanavicius	Watch free on Kanopy or Rent/Buy on YouTube / Vudu / Amazon Prime / iTunes	In this spy movie parody, French Office of Strategic Services agent Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath investigates the disappearance of his fellow agent and longtime friend Jack Jefferson. Disguised as the head of a wholesale chicken company, Hubert dispatches to Cairo amid the Suez Crisis.
Friday, August 7 Add to Calendar	Valse avec Bachir (Waltz with Bashir) by Ari Folman	Rent/Buy on YouTube / Vudu / Amazon Prime / iTunes	This animated documentary film follows its filmmaker's attempt to decipher the horrors that unfolded one night in September of 1982, when Christian militia members massacred more than 3,000 Palestinian refugees in the heart of Beirut as Israeli soldiers surrounded the area.
Friday, August 14 Add to Calendar	Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) by Céline Sciamma	Rent/Buy on YouTube or Amazon Prime	France, 1770. Marianne, a painter, is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Héloïse, a young woman who has just left the convent. Héloïse is a reluctant bride to be and Marianne must paint her without her knowing. She observes her by day, to paint her secretly.
Friday, August 21 Add to Calendar	Relève : Histoire d'une création (Reset) by Thierry Demaizière and Alban Teurlai	Watch free on Kanopy or Rent/Buy on YouTube / Vudu / Amazon Prime / iTunes	Renowned choreographer and dancer Benjamin Millepied attempts to rejuvenate the Paris Opera Ballet in his position as director.
Friday, August 28 Add to Calendar	120 Battements par minute (BPM (Beats Per Minute)) by Robin Campillo	Watch free on Kanopy or Rent/Buy on YouTube / Vudu / Amazon Prime	Nathan is a young man who joins an AIDS activist group in 1990s Paris. As he attends the weekly meetings, he learns that some members prefer a more radical approach to their protests.

FILMS PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED BY AFSEATTLE'S CINÉ-SALON

DATE	FILM	WHERE TO WATCH	SYNOPSIS
~~Friday, April 3~~	Paris, je t'aime (Paris, I Love You) by various directors	Watch on YouTube or rent/buy on Amazon Prime	Set against a romantic Parisian backdrop, twenty filmmakers explore the many faces of love in this delightful anthology film.
~~Friday, April 10~~	Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob (The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob) by Gérard Oury	Rent/Buy on YouTube or Amazon Prime	A satirical laugh riot of mistaken identities starring beloved French comedian, Louis de Funès, on the run from kidnappers ensuing a slapstick series of events to evade them. A French classic!
~~Friday, April 17~~	Le Nom des gens (The Names of Love) by Michel Leclerc	Watch free on Kanopy or rent/Buy on YouTube or Amazon Prime	Baya is a young, extroverted liberal who lives by the hippie slogan "Make love, not war." She seduces right-wing men to convert them to her political causes - with exceptional results. That is, until she meets Arthur, a middle-of-the road scientist, and the sparks fly.
~~Friday, April 24~~	Visages, Villages (Faces, Places) by Agnès Varda	Rent/Buy on YouTube or Amazon Prime	Agnes Varda and artist JR travel around the villages of France in a photo truck meeting locals, learning their stories, and producing epic-size portraits of them.
~~Friday, May 1~~	Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (Welcome to the Sticks) by Dany Boon	Watch free on Kanopy or rent/Buy on YouTube or Amazon Prime	In this popular comedy, Philippe, a post office manager, plots to get transferred to the Côte d'Azur to make his wife happy. But it backfires, and he ends up in a small town in northern France.
~~Friday, May 8~~	Mauvaises herbes (Bad Seeds) by Kheiron	Watch on Netflix	Troubled by his past, a scam artist who runs a petty racket with his adoptive mom finds redemption while mentoring a group of difficult students.
~~Friday, May 15~~	Paris pieds nus (Lost in Paris) by Fiona Gordon, Dominique Abel	Watch free on Kanopy or Amazon Prime or rent/Buy on YouTube	Filmed in Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon's signature whimsical style, Lost in Paris stars the filmmakers as a small-town Canadian librarian and a strangely seductive, oddly egotistical vagabond.
~~Friday, May 22~~	J'ai perdu mon corps (I lost my body) by Jérémy Clapin	Watch on Netflix	Romance, mystery, and adventure intertwine as a young man falls in love and a severed hand scours Paris for its owner in this mesmerizing animated film.
~~Friday, May 29~~	Les Amours imaginaires (Heartbeats) by Xavier Dolan	Rent/Buy on YouTube or Amazon Prime	Two close friends find themselves fighting for the affections of the same striking young man. The more intimate the trio becomes, the more unattainable the object of their infatuation seems, sending the friends' obsession into overdrive.
~~Friday, June 5~~	Le Grand Bain (Sink or Swim) by Gilles Lellouche	Watch free on Kanopy or Rent/Buy on YouTube	A group of 40-something men, all on the verge of a mid-life crisis, decide to form their local pool's first ever all-male synchronized swimming team. Braving the skepticism and ridicule of those around them, the group set out an unlikely adventure.