1917 Centennial

April 11 & 25
Embassy of France - La Maison Française

Wings
by William Wellman, with live music by Prima Vista Quartet.
Black&White - Silent - 1927 - USA - 144 min
April 11 | 7:00 p.m

Set against the backdrop of the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in the Meuse, William Wellman’s epic masterpiece is the story of two men who enlist to join allied troops in France and the girl they’ve left behind. Featuring thrilling aerial battle scenes and breathtaking camera work, this tale of friendship and love, rivalry and heroism stars screen siren Clara Bow alongside Richard Arlen, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, and the legendary Gary Cooper in a cameo appearance.

A mix of melodrama and grand spectacle, Wings is the last great film of the silent era. The prowess of the fight scenes and spectacular aerial choreography give this story a genuine epic scope. Wings won the first Academy Award for Best Picture.

Wings is set to Baudime Jam's music by Prima Vista Quartet, a benchmark in the world of "ciné-concerts" (silent film musical accompaniment.)

The Great War: Animated Memories
by multiple directors
9 animated short films - France - 75 min
April 25 | 7:00 p.m

Set on the front, in the trenches and under fire, or behind the front line, through women's letters and through the memories of the elders or the collective memory, discover fascinating, sensitive and touching films by experienced directors, who revisit that catastrophe with a contemporary perspective.
With different techniques such as 3D animation, drawing, paper cut-outs, painting or plasticine, the directors invite us in their imaginary world and show once again the richness and the energy of the animated creations of today.

Not recommended for children under 12.

Online registration is required for these free admission screenings.

Filmfest DC

April 30 | 3:30 & 7:00 p.m
Embassy of France - La Maison Française

Lost in Paris
by Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel
2016 – France/Belgium – 84 min

Husband-and-wife duo Fiona Gordon and Dominique Abel (Rumba; The Fairy) take inspiration from Jacques Tati, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy in this whimsical slapstick comedy.

In the film, Fiona (Gordon) embarks on a mission to save her dotty aunt Martha, played by French screen legend and Academy Award Nominee Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), from a nursing home after receiving the frantic plea: "Dear Fiona, help! After 48 years living in Paris they want me to move to an old people's home. Ridiculous! I'm only 88." Escaping frozen Canada for the city of romance, gawky, gangling Fiona arrives too late: Martha's apartment is empty. Worse, she loses her passport and her money, and takes an unintended dip in the Seine. As one mishap leads to another, she becomes entangled with a fleet-footed homeless man (Abel) in a world of Tati-esque deadpan sight gags, class commentary, and brightly colored sets. 

In French with English subtitles

Book your tickets here!

Advance booking only - no sales at the door.

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The French Cinémathèque at the Avalon Theatre Presents: The Son of Joseph

April 19 | 8:00 p.m
Avalon Theater

The monthly French Cinémathèque series at the Avalon Theatre, in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, presents the screening of the film The Son of Joseph by Eugène Green.

A nativity story reboot that gently skewers French cultural pretensions, The Son of Joseph is filmmaker Eugène Green (LA SAPIENZA) at his most buoyant. Newcomer Victor Ezenfis is a discontented Parisian teenager in search of a father with Mathieu Amalric and Fabrizio Rongione as his, respectively, callous and gentle alternative paternal options, and Natacha Régnier as his single mother. The Son of Joseph is where divine seriousness rubs against bizarre comedy, where theology meets caricature, an intriguing and masterful new work, anachronistic and innovative in equal measure.

In French with English subtitles.

For more information and ticket reservations, please click here.

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Mec!

April 4 | 7:00 p.m
Embassy of France - La Maison Française

Mec!

Texts of poet Allain Leprest, interpreted by award winning stage and screen actor Philippe Torreton with renown percussionist Edward Perraud.

Philippe Torreton, nominated five times for Les Césars (French Oscars) Best Actor award, received in 1997 a César for his role in the feature film Captain Conan by Bertrand Tavernier. Nominated three times for the Molière Awards in Theater, he received in 2014 the Molière Best Actor award for his performance of Cyrano de Bergerac.

Edward Perraud, as a percussionist, was distinguished with the Best Jazz Album award - 2014 (Victoires de la Musique) and with Germany’s Preiss der deutsche Kritik Best Jazz Album award - 2011 for Das Kapital’s Ballads & Barricades.

The performance will be followed by a Q&A with Philippe Torreton and Edward Perraud.

In French with English surtitles

This event is part of the Richmond French Film Festival.

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Young Concert Artists presents: Olivier Stankiewicz

April 12 | 7:30 p.m
La Maison Française - Embassy of France

The 38th Young Concert Artists Series presents, with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, French oboist Olivier Stankiewicz with pianist Alvise Sinivia.

25-year-old French oboist Olivier Stankiewicz has been praised for his “astounding technique, rich sound, and mature artistry” (ResMusica). This season, he makes his New York debut and Washington, DC debut in the Alexander Kasza-Kasser Concert on the Young Concert Artists Series, where he’ll premiere a new work by YCA Composer-in-Residence Tonia Ko. His U.S. debut tour also includes performances at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Port Washington Library, and with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. He also debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall, and performs with the Orchestre National du Capitole Toulouse and the Faust Chamber Orchestra. In addition to his solo career, he holds the position of Principal Oboe with the London Symphony Orchestra and is Professor of Oboe at the Royal College of Music in London.

Program:
SCHUMANN: Romanzen, Op. 94
MARTINŮ: Three Romanian Folk Songs
WOLPE: Sonata for oboe and piano, C. 91, Op. 31
SILVESTRINI: Three Etudes on Impressionist Paintings
KO (YCA Composer-in-Residence): Premiere
DUTILLEUX: Sonata for oboe and piano

For tickets and information, please visit Young Concert Artists' website.

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Jain

April 9 | 8 p.m.
Rock'n Roll Hotel

It takes just a few seconds of listening to Jain to know that you’ve stumbled on someone special. Pick a song – any song – from the Parisian’s glorious, globe-trotting debut album, Zanaka, and the effect is the same. Instantly, you’ll be startled, smitten and smiling.

It took about a minute for the audience at this year’s French Grammys, Les Victoires de la Musique, to anoint Jain pop’s most compelling new star. Performing her song Come at the televised ceremony, surrounded by dancing doppelgangers, backed by masked drummers and blaring brass, Jain stole the show as the crowd leapt from their seats in disbelief. The following day, Come was at No.1, helping to propel Zanaka to platinum sales in France within a couple of months of its release.

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Frédéric Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism

April 9 - July 9, 2017
National Gallery of Art - East Building

Despite his contributions to the birth of impressionism, Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870) remains relatively unknown. A thematic presentation of 75 works—including paintings by contemporaries such as Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir—will bring to light Bazille’s place as a central figure in the movement. Several examples from the Gallery’s collection, which houses the largest group of Bazille’s works outside of France, will be featured in the first major American exhibition on the artist in almost 25 years. Paintings by his predecessors, Gustave Courbet and Théodore Rousseau, compared with those of Bazille, explore the sources and influences on his limited but visionary oeuvre.

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington; the Musée Fabre, Montpellier; and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

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Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair

Through July 14, 2017
The George Washington University Museum
The Textile Museum

For fifty years, the Ebony Fashion Fair shaped a new vision of black America through contemporary fashion. This exhibition of stunning ensembles by leading designers tells the story of the fair’s creator, Eunice W. Johnson, who overcame racial prejudice to bring global fashion to African-American audiences.

Developed by the Chicago History Museum in cooperation with Johnson Publishing Company, LLC, presented by the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum, and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C.

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The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters from The Museum of Modern Art

Through June 18, 2017
Chrysler Museum of Art
Norfolk, VA

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's radical, bold, and often outrageous posters share the spotlight with his sketches and illustrations in this Spring keynote exhibition.

One of Paris' key post-Impressionist artists, Toulouse-Lautrec frequented the city's many entertainment establishments, including the popular Moulin Rouge.

He was commissioned to produce posters promoting new Cafe-Concerts, groundbreaking performers like Jane Avril, and audacious impresarios like Aristide Bruant. Like many Parisian artists Toulouse-Lautrec drew inspiration from the Japanese prints being exported to Europe, which offered new ways of looking at the world, and a selection of these works are on display in a companion exhibition.

This exhibition is organized by The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

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Albertine Prize

The Albertine Prize recognizes American readers’ favorite contemporary Francophone literature while encouraging the discovery of new literary voices, translated and published in the US in the past year. The selection presents a range of stories from many diverse locations and perspectives, reminding us of the importance of looking beyond one’s own borders.

You don’t have to read them all to participate! Read one novel or more from the list, and vote for as many as you want!

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