Department of French & Italian

Film and Event: Becoming Traviata, by Philippe Béziat

2013-06-13T16:35:27Z

The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul presents:

Becoming Traviata
France • 111 min • French w/English subtitles • 2013 • Documentary
Directed by: Philippe Béziat

The film is opening Friday, June 28 at the St Anthony Main Theater.

Event:

Pre-screening Party and LIVE OPERA Performance
with opera conductor/director Craig Fields
and an outstanding cast of opera singers

Monday, July 1, 2013
6-7:30 pm
Aster Café’s River Room
125 SE Main St, Minneapolis

$25 General / $20 Film Society Members
Ticket Includes:
performance & discussion | hors d’oeuvres & cash bar
Screening of Becoming Traviata

Films: 8 Pierre Étaix films throughout August

2013-05-14T19:02:08Z

Comedian, illustrator, gagman, film director - Pierre Étaix has done it all, and yet he remains largely unknown outside his homeland. Janus Films is proud to correct that situation with 8 new prints: five features and three shorts produced between 1961 and 1971, all beautifully restored in 35mm. Praised by directors as diverse as Truffaut, Bresson, Godard, and David Lynch, Étaix's films combine exquisite physical comedy with inventive sight gags and a slightly surreal visual sensibility. This retrospective is an unprecedented opportunity to discover a neglected master of comic filmmaking.

Weekends, August at The Trylon microcinema in Minneapolis.

]]>

Friday August 2 - Sunday August 4
THE SUITOR
(1962, 35mm, 83m) Pierre Étaix’s delightful first feature received the Prix Louis Delluc, French cinema’s most prestigious award. The actor-director’s love of the great silent film comedians is evident in this gag-filled, almost dialogue-free tale of an astronomy geek (Étaix) who, under pressure from his parents, sets out to find himself a wife. With the short film "Rupture" (1961, 11m.)
FRI/SAT 7:00 9:00, SUN 5:00 7:00

Friday August 9 - Sunday August 11
YOYO
(1965, 35mm, 97m) Arguably Étaix’s masterpiece, Yoyo begins as a silent film, with our hero as a wealthy loafer who loses it all in the Depression. As the film switches into sound, we witness the man's son fight in the big war and become a circus clown en route to restoring the family
fortune.
FRI/SAT 7:00 9:00, SUN 5:00 7:00

Friday August 16 - Sunday August 18
LE GRAND AMOUR
(1969, 35mm, 87m) Pierre is dutifully married to Florence. Everything is fine in their relationship and at work. The years pass monotonously until a very young new secretary is hired and Pierre, shaken by infatuation, starts to dream... With the short feature "Happy Anniversary" (1962, 15m.) FRI/SAT 7:00 9:00, SUN 5:00 7:00

Friday August 23 - Sunday August 25
LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
(1971, 35mm, 76m) Shot following the social uproar that swept France in May 1968, Étaix’s vérité documentary concerns "eroticism, poverty, violence, gender equality, gay marriage, the power of advertising, and the deformation of minds and manners by television. The concluding sequence—an inquiry into the public image of one Pierre Étaix—has a disarming reflexive loopiness, holding up mirrors to mirrors and sending the viewer off in freefall.”—The New Yorker
FRI/SAT 7:00 8:30, SUN 5:30 7:00

Friday August 30 through Sunday September 1
AS LONG AS YOU’RE HEALTHY
(1966, 35mm, 68m) Étaix fashions four playful vignettes that comically dramatize the anxieties of 20th century life, from seeing a shrink to going to the movies! With the short film "Feeling Good" (1966, 13m.)
FRI/SAT 7:00 8:45, SUN 5:00 6:45

The Trylon microcinema
3258 Minnehaha Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55406
(612) 424-5468

Film: Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire), by Paolo Taviani, returns May 10th

2013-05-09T19:05:10Z

Opening Friday, May 10: Caesar Must Die. After multiple sell-out screenings, this 2013 MSP International Film Fest darling returns for a theatrical run! Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival, Caesar Must Die follows the inmates of the high-security Rebibbia prison as they put on a breathtaking and vivid performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Critically lauded, this festival highlight is an absolute must-see.

at St. Anthony Main Theater brought to you by the MSP Film Society.

Italy • 76 min • Italian w/English subtitles • 2012 • Drama • 35mm • PG-13
Directed by: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani

SHOWTIMES
Friday, May 10 thru Thursday, May 16
(1:20), (3:20), (5:20), 7:20, 9:40

]]> Shakespeare’s scenes play out in the prison cells and courtyard, as inmates let the rehearsals infiltrate their day-to-day lives. Tensions rumble to the surface as the play unearths suppressed feelings.

Veteran filmmakers the Taviani brothers delve back into the docudrama territory of their 1977 Palme d’Or winner Padre padrone. Performed by convicted criminals, the film blurs the boundaries between drama and reality. Working as an actor since his release from Rebibbia, Salvatore Striano delivers a powerfully raw performance as Brutus.

Caesar Must Die finds the common ground between Shakespeare’s play and cell life: corruption, collusion and betrayal. But above all, a film of genuine humanity and compassion is exquisitely revealed. (AIFF)

Film: Renoir, by Gilles Bourdos, starts 4/26

2013-04-22T15:34:34Z

Landmark Theaters presents:
Renoir, writer/director Gilles Bourdos, 111 min, France
In French with English Subtitles
Showing starts April 26th at the Uptown Theater and Edina 4

Starring: Michel Bouquet, Christa Théret, Vincent Rottiers

Set on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915, Gilles Bourdos’ lushly atmospheric drama RENOIR tells the story of celebrated** Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir**, in declining health at age 74, and his middle son Jean, who returns home to convalesce after being wounded in World War I.

]]> The elder Renoir is filled with a new, wholly unexpected energy when a young girl miraculously enters his world. Blazing with life, radiantly beautiful, Andrée will become his last model, and the wellspring of a remarkable rejuvenation. At the same time, Jean also falls under the spell of the free-spirited young Andrée. Their beautiful home and majestic countryside grounds reverberate with familial intrigue, as both Renoirs, père et fils, become smitten with the enchanting and headstrong young muse.

RENOIR locates a fascinating moment of change, one century’s way of thinking giving way to the next, and the passing of the torch from a great painter to the great filmmaker of such classics as Grand Illusion and Rules of the Game.

A Samuel Goldwyn Films Release

Rating: R

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/letters/renoir.htm

www.renoir-thefilm.com

Congratulations: Emily Parrent has been awarded the Selmer Birkelo scholarship for 2013-14

2013-04-16T21:03:27Z

Congratulations to Emily! Word was just received that one of the eighteen students selected to receive the Selmer Birkelo scholarship for 2013-14 is Emily Parrent, who is triple-majoring in Classical Civilization, Anthropology, and French & Italian Studies. These awards are given to students majoring in fields relating to history, modern languages, classics, or the social or behavioral science.

Event: Bernard Stiegler, "From Psychopower to Neuropower: Autonomy and Automation" (4/15-16)

2013-04-04T17:45:18Z

Over the last twenty years, French philosopher Bernard Stiegler has written more than thirty books, publishing widely on time, memory, individuation, consumerist culture, post-capitalism and pharmacology.

]]> Plenary Talk by Philosopher Bernard Stiegler
Monday April 15, 2 PM
Fraser Hall 101

Public Conversation: «Performing Theory Today»
with Bernard Stiegler, Jane Blocker,
John Mowitt, Anaïs Nony and Christophe Wall-Romana
Monday April 15, 3:30 PM
Fraser Hall 101

Workshop: «A Pharmacological Approach to Philosophy»
with Bernard Stiegler and graduate students
Reading available via PDF on the French & Italian Department website
Tuesday April 16, 10 AM
125 Nolte Library

Workshop documents:

Taking Care.pdf

From libidinal economy.pdf

Disorientation.pdf

desire and knowledge.docx

Bernard Stiegler.docx

Anamnesis Hypomnesis.docx

(View poster image)

Made possible through the generous support of the French Embassy, the Imagine Fund and the Department of
French & Italian
Further information contact: Anaïs Nony boit0005@umn.edu

Event: 5th Annual Italian Film Festival, April 4-7

2013-03-28T16:24:28Z

The volunteers of the Italian Cultural Center’s 2013 5th Annual Italian Film Festival of Minneapolis/St. Paul are thrilled to announce a lineup of films of extraordinary artistry and quality!]]>
Films to be featured at the Italian Film Festival are:

Polvere – Il grande processo dell’amianto (Dust – The Great Asbestos Trial) 2011; This gripping documentary captures the haunting aftermath of an industrial and human disaster. Director Niccolò Bruna will be on hand for the limited private screening of his film and will also lead this year’s director’s workshop, which is free to the public.
Terraferma (Dry Land) 2011; This Venice Film Festival Special Jury Award winning drama is the story of an encounter at sea between Sicilians and illegal Immigrants from Africa.(Minnesota premiere)
L'estate di Giacomo (Summer of Giacomo), 2011; This multi-award winning romantic drama captures the sensual awakening between two teenagers hiking along the banks of the Tagliamento river in Fruili. (Minnesota premiere)
Un giorno speciale (A Special Day) 2012; This Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Award-nominated drama follows young Romans navigating the streets of their city and the undercurrent of exploitation at the hands of those in political and entertainment circles.(Minnesota premiere)
Io sono Li (Shun Li and the Poet) 2011; This multi-award winning drama is the story of a special friendship that develops between two Venetians from disparate cultural backgrounds. (Minnesota premiere)
La kryptonite nella borsa (Kryptonite!) 2011; This fresh, tender comedy won the best actress award at the Annecy Italian Film Festival. Kryptonite! Is a story set in 1970s Naples about a bullied boy who’s changed by the pop culture of the era and imaginary visits from his dead cousin. (Minnesota premiere)
È stato il figlio (It was the son) 2011; This critically-acclaimed, award winning comic drama uses dazzling cinematographic effects to tell the story of a Sicilian family entangled in a web of obligation and debt with the Mafia. (Minnesota premiere)

This year’s film festival will also include:

An opportunity to meet and attend a free directors workshop with Niccolò Bruna the director of Dust
A selection of Italian foods, wine and beers to enjoy before the films.
Thought-provoking post-film panel discussions.

More information on the 2013 Italian Film Festival – including film trailers and descriptions – is located on the Italian Cultural Center website: www.TheItalianCulturalCenter.org. Click on the “events” drop down and select the film festival.

Members of the media interested in interviewing Italian Film festival organizers, “DUST” director Niccolò

Bruna, and/or members of the post-film panels may contact:

Sandra Gengler
sgengler@tripleink.com
651-895-5579

Lecture: Nouri Gana, "Ben Ali, Dégage: A History of Cultural Dissent in Tunisia (1934-2011)" (4/1, 3pm)

2013-03-25T15:48:31Z

Lecture: Hélène Merlin-Kajman, "Civility, Honor, Familiarity: Reflections on the French 17th-century" (4/5, 2:30pm)

2013-03-21T17:21:32Z

Symposium: Representing Genocide: Media, Law and Scholarship (4/5-4/6)

2013-03-21T17:15:19Z

Congratulations: Professor Mary Franklin-Brown awarded the ACLA 2012 Harry Levin Prize for her book "Reading the World: Encyclopedic Writing in the Scholastic Age"

2013-03-07T14:14:49Z

Congratulations to Mary Franklin-Brown:

The American Comparative Literature Association has awarded the 2103 Harry Levin Prize to Mary Franklin-Brown, Associate Professor in French and Italian, for her book Reading the World: Encyclopedic Writing in the Scholastic Age (University of Chicago).

]]> The 2013 Levin prize distinguishes the best first book in comparative literature published in 2010-2012. The prize committee praised the book for being "impressively textured and detailed in its historical scholarship, and at the same time for posing urgent questions that have resonated across the centuries into our own internet era."

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-World-Encyclopedic-Writing-Scholastic/dp/0226260682

Warmest congratulations!

Film: Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire), by Paolo Taviani (4/20, 7pm)

2013-03-06T21:59:28Z

at St. Anthony Main Theater brought to you by the MSP Film Society.

Italy • 76 min • Italian w/English subtitles • 2012 • Drama • 35mm • PG-13
Directed by: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani

Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival, Caesar Must Die follows the inmates of the high-security Rebibbia prison as they rehearse a performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Critically lauded, this festival highlight is an absolute must-see.

Caesar Must Die finds the common ground between Shakespeare’s play and cell life: corruption, collusion and betrayal. But above all, a film of genuine humanity and compassion is exquisitely revealed. (AIFF)

Lecture: Patricia Lorcin, "Nationalist Anger, Colonial Illusions: Nostalgia as Colonial Women’s Response to Decolonization" (3/8, 2:30pm)

2013-03-06T15:30:05Z

Lecture: Lorenzo Fabbri, “Questioning the National: Southerness and Subalternity from Visconti to Crialese ” (2/22, 2:30pm)

2013-02-19T15:53:40Z

Lecture: Corbin Treacy, "Aesthetics and Aftermath: Algeria 1962-2012" (3/1/2013, 12pm)

2013-02-14T17:30:35Z

PhD Candidate Department of French and Italian Corbin Treacy to Present at CHGS (Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies) Workshop

Interdisciplinary Workshop for Graduate Students and Faculty Holocaust, Genocide and Mass Violence Studies
Friday, March 1

12:00-1:30 p.m.

Room 710 Social Sciences

Aesthetics and Aftermath: Algeria 1962-2012

]]> Treacy's dissertation studies Algerian novels in French that respond to the political and social landscape of the post-independence period. Through their literary form, engagement with the political present, and utopian thinking, these works imagine counter-realities that interrupt the closed-circuit loop of violence and paralysis that have defined public life in Algeria in the aftermath of independence from France in 1962.

Building on the recent work of critics who combine materialist dialectics and post-colonial critique, He will show how these texts disrupt this permanence of aftermath through particular aesthetic moves, suggesting new ways of reading post-colonial literature beyond the polarities of politics and poetics.

If you are interested in participating in the workshop please contact Shannon Golden at golde118@umn.edu.

Updated schedule: CHGS 2013 HGMV Workshop 2-1-2013.pdf