> Home > University
Advancement > Newsroom
- 2008 Press Releases > DH 08 ABS20
Newsroom
Archive | Experts Online|CSUDH
In The News
March 25, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
French Film Festival at CSU Dominguez
Hills
Entertains, Explores Historical Themes
(Carson, CA)— Five
French films will be showcased over five days in April at California
State
University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) when the French American Cultural
Exchange (FACE) Tournées Festival of French Films comes
to the campus.
Co-sponsored by the Department of History
and the Phi Alpha Theta history honors society, the Tournées Festival at CSU Dominguez
Hills will screen the following films (with English subtitles):
Indigènes (Days of Glory), Tuesday April 8; Monsieur Ibrahim,
Wednesday, April 9; S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine, Tuesday,
April 15; Le Plafond de Verre (Glass Ceiling), Thursday, April
17; and Paris Je T’aime Saturday, April 19. The films will
be free and open to the public and will include panel discussions
afterward.
A schedule, including times and locations as
well as a synopsis of the films and a description of the panel
discussions, is listed below.
CSU Dominguez Hills was one of only 108
institutions nationwide, including Puerto Rico, that FACE selected
through a grant process
to host a Tournées Festival this year. With a mission to
promote French-American relations through arts and cultural programs,
the nonprofit FACE created the Tournées Festival in 1995
to expose more U.S. students to contemporary French-made films,
especially those movies and documentaries with limited distribution.
History professor Laura Talamante, who
applied for the FACE grant and is organizing the festival at
CSUDH, said the Tournées
Festival not only introduces filmgoers to a slate of interesting
films they might not otherwise see, but also provides a springboard
for academic discussions on a number of topics.
The films to be screened all relate to
the legacy of French colonialism and address that legacy from
various geographical and historical
to contemporary perspectives. The panel discussions will further
examine each film’s themes and put the issues in a historical
context.
“These films allow faculty and students and the community
to explore such themes as colonialism, struggles for democracy,
WWII, liberty and equality, de-colonization, immigration, and racism,
and their relationship with citizenship,” Talamente said.
The final film, Paris Je T’aime,
also provides an opportunity to see that although the post-colonial
French legacy brings modern
challenges, France remains a vibrant and enticing place for people
from the around the world, Talamente added.
All screenings will take place in the evening
in the Loker Student Union on campus, except Paris Je T’aime,
which overlaps with A Day at Dominguez university open house,
and will be shown in
the afternoon in the auditorium in La Corte Hall A103.
CSU Dominguez Hills is located at 1000 E. Victoria St. in Carson,
near the junction of the 110, 91 and 405 freeways. Visitor parking
permits may be purchased for $3 at the yellow dispensing machines
at the front of each campus lot. Guests to the film festival are
advised to park in lots 3 or 6 off Victoria Street and Tamcliff
Avenue. A campus map is available at http://www.csudh.edu/site/VisitUs/Maps.asp.
Grants for universities to host Tournées Festival are made
possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French
Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture (CNC), the Florence
Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation, highbrow entertainment,
agnès b., and the Franco-American Cultural Fund.
For more information about FACE and the
Tournées Festival,
visit http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/index.html
# # #
2008 CSUDH Tournées
Festival of French Films
Schedule of Events
Tuesday, April 8: Indigenes (Days of Glory)
Events begin at 6:30 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m.
CSUDH President Mildred García will officially open the
festival. Dr. Munashe Furusa, chair of Africana studies, will introduce
the film and will be joined by Dr. Hamoud Salhi, political science,
for discussion afterward. The evening will also feature a performance
of Mali dance by CSUDH students. A display of African artifacts
and traditional African music to highlight the themes of the film
will also be presented.
Synopsis: While fighting for freedom and the liberation of Italy,
the Alps and eastern France during World War II, African soldiers
known as "Indigenes" must face tremendous racism in the
military, and in French society, forcing them to struggle for equality
of treatment at every turn.
Wednesday, April 9: Monsieur Ibrahim
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m.
Foreign language professor Dr. Michael Galant will introduce the
film. Following the screening will be a panel discussion on navigating
identity formation, personal and national, in a growing multi-cultural
context. Panelists include Dr. Ericka Verba, history; Dr. Hamoud
Salhi, political science; Lui Amador, coordinator, Multicultural
Center; and Xhercis Mendez, CSUDH McNair scholar.
Synopsis: Against the backdrop of cultural and societal shifts
taking place in Paris in the 1960s, in a working-class neighborhood
two unlikely characters — a young Jewish boy,
Moise, and an elderly Muslim, Mr. Ibrahim — begin a friendship.
Mr. Ibrahim is a delicate film about humility, friendship and tolerance.
Tuesday, April 15: S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
Events begin at 5:30 p.m., film begins at 6:45 p.m.
The evening begins with music, Cambodian dance performances by
Spirit of Khmer Angkor, a slideshow on Cambodia, cultural displays
and a book signing of Cambodians in Long Beach (2008) by Dr. Sue
Needham, anthropology, and Dr. Karen Quintiliani, CSU Long Beach
anthropology professor. Needham will introduce the film, and a
panel discussion will follow. Panelists include Bryant Ben, Peter
Long, Sithea San, and Gary Ung.
Synopsis: Director Rithy Panh spent three years to find and interview
victims and their torturers at S21, the main detention center of
the Khmer Rouge regime that caused the death of more than 1.2 million
Cambodians in the late 1970s. In S21, they face each other in an
attempt to explain and understand.
Thursday, April 17: Le Plafond de Verre (The Glass Ceiling)
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m.
History professor Dr. Laura Talamante will introduce the film.
A panel discussion on the film’s theme of invisible barriers
in society will be held immediately afterward. Panelists include
Dr. Clare Weber, sociology, and Ivonne L. Heinze-Balcazar,
program coordinator of the CSUDH Women’s Studies Program.
Synopsis: Director Yamina Benguigui examines the integration in
France of immigrants in the workplace and provides moving testimonies
of qualified students who, because of their obviously foreign last
names, were not called back for job interviews. The documentary
also includes interviews with experts who discuss the reasons behind
discrimination, which include France's colonial past as well as
deeply entrenched corporate practices, and the difficulty that
individuals of foreign origins face.
Saturday, April 19: Paris Je T’aime
Presented as part of Unity Fest and Day at Dominguez
Doors open at 2:00 p.m., film begins at 2:15 p.m.
Carole Desgroppes-Brown, program coordinator of CSUDH’s
Toro Productions, will introduce the film and its sponsorship as
part of Unity Fest and A Day at Dominguez.
Synopsis: In 18 short films (representing 18 of the 20 Paris neighborhoods,
arrondissments), 18 different directors tell the story of Paris.
This atypical collective film bears the hallmark of major international
filmmakers and the names of stellar actors such as Natalie Portman,
Gena Rowlands, Elijah Wood, Ben Gazzara and Catherine Deneuve.
---------------------------------------------- About
CSU Dominguez Hills -- California
State University, Dominguez Hills is a highly diverse,
urban university located in the South Bay, primarily
serving the
Los Angeles metropolitan area. The university prides itself
on its outstanding faculty and friendly, student-centered
environment.
Known for excellence in teacher education, nursing, psychology,
business administration, and digital media arts, new degree
programs include computer science, criminal justice,
recreation and leisure
studies, social work, and communication disorders. On campus
is the Home Depot Center, a multi-purpose sports complex
that hosts
world-class soccer, tennis, track and field, lacrosse, and
cycling.
|
