French Film Night
Droll humour, direct dialogue and high style – French film is proving popular in Darwin, at Alliance Française's French film nights.
The monthly Wednesday film screening takes place alongside glasses of French wine and cheese. French speakers can mingle or practice their conversation, non-speakers have the pleasure of listening in.
With the event set to take off again this Dry, the Alliance has been carefully selecting their cinematic picks for the season.
“We think that the comedy will be quite popular,” says Alliance Française president Florence Guillet. “Normally we have a lot of comedies and traditional French movies, to target the people who are into French culture.
“Not only do we screen films, we offer food like French cheese and wine. People get the full experience, they get to talk to us (in French) and we get to mingle.”
Besides appealing to Darwin’s small French community and homesick backpackers, French Film Night has been a success with Darwinites , offering an alternative, distinct style of entertaining cinema, says Guillet.
“Unlike American movies, it’s quite direct and straight to the point. There’s no fluffing around with the characters. It’s quite abrupt sometimes. Very different to American films. I reckon it’s a lot like the English films – English humour is similar.”
This month’s film is Le Souvenirs (Memories) a comedy-drama based around a fractious family.
If watching the odd film isn’t enough French culture for you, Alliance Française employs a teacher from France to teach its language classes, as well as holding community pétanque at East Point Reserve and free conversation at Café de la Plage.
Merveilleux!
