FC’s French Film Festival Returns This Spring
Fullerton College’s 7th annual French Film Festival includes a stimulating array of movies that range from fast-paced action and think-on-your-feet comedy to riveting historical drama, and even a dash of vintage romance. This popular cultural event is open to the community.
The annual French Film Festival returns to Fullerton College on March 28 and 29 as well as April 7 and 8. Tickets are available for $6.50, per person for each film, at the Fullerton College Box Office or on the night of the film. All showings are in the Campus Theatre and begin at 7:30 p.m.
Guests of the film festival will enjoy cuisine sponsored by several local French eateries before two screenings. Come early on the night of Comme un Chef (Thursday, April 7) for free tastings of authentic French food from purveyors such as Moulin Bistro, Pescadou Bistro, Yves’ Restaurant & Wine Bar, Pandor and Cafe Beau Soleil from Newport Beach. Pandor has locations in Long Beach and the Anaheim Packing House. On the night of Diplomatie (March 29), Vista Higher Learning, will also provide appetizers before the movie.
This year’s films are: À Bout Portant on March 28; Diplomatie on March 29; Comme un Chef on April 7, and Fanny on April 8.
Monday, March 28: Point Blank/ À Bout Portant is the riveting, fast-paced, and action packed tale of a brave Parisian nurse, Samuel, whose pregnant wife is kidnapped while he watches helplessly. Knocked unconscious, he awakens to a mysterious phone call informing him that he has three hours to get Sartet, a man under police surveillance, out of the hospital if he wants his wife back. Samuel becomes enmeshed in a battle against police and dangerous gangsters as he strives to save his wife and baby.
Tuesday, March 29: Diplomacy/Diplomatie tells the story of the German occupation of Paris, a city that Hitler demands be held or destroyed. General Dietrich von Choltitz, a Nazi commander, is in charge of upholding Hitler’s plans and has explosives planted throughout Paris. Only one man might stop him: Swedish Consul General Raoul Nordling, a brave and clever negotiator, who sneaks into German headquarters via a secret underground tunnel, hoping to persuade Choltitz to defy his order and save Paris. Nordling and Choltitz meet for a tension filled, high stakes night with the fate of Paris hanging in the balance.
Thursday, April 7: Le Chef/Comme un Chef is a charming and humorous film about virtuoso chef Jacky who is down on his luck. Although his wife is distraught about his frequent job failures, Jacky fatefully gets the opportunity to work with the famous chef Alexandre Lagarde, a man in danger of losing his international acclaim and beloved restaurant. Lagarde is facing a serious conflict with Stanislas Matter, the CEO of the group who owns Lagarde’s restaurant. Matter will stop at nothing to destroy Largarde’s reputation in order to fire Lagarde and take the restaurant away and recreate it in the trendy gastronomical style of cuisine. Lagarde’s desperation to keep his reputation, his Michelin three stars, and his restaurant causes him to pair up with the unlikely Jacky as they attempt to battle Matter while staying on top of the cooking scene, a daunting task demanding obsession and detracting from family life.
Friday, April 8: Fanny/Fanny paints a picture of Fanny and Marius’s love in a seaside town during the 1920s. Fanny is carrying Marius’s child, but he is off at sea with no knowledge of her predicament as a single mother in a traditional society without means to take care of the child. With the blessing of her mother, she agrees to marry an old, prosperous shop keeper Honoré Panisse. Panisse knows about her predicament and agrees to raise the child as his own. However, Marius returns from sea, his heart filled with profound love for Fanny, only to discover she has wed Panisse. Despite Fanny’s undying love for Marius, Fanny and Marius’s father, César, attempt to convince Marius to stay away for the sake of the child’s future and the honor of the Panisse family.
The French Film Festival is a popular event that began in 2010. Dean of Humanities Dan Willoughby and French Professor Violette Vornicel Guthmann founded the festival and the French Film Festival committee. The French Film Festival committee is composed of Collette Blumer, Daniel Brondi, Lina Callahan, Ruth Egigian, Klaus Hornell, Carol Rehfield, Catherine Reinhardt-Zacair, Matt Smith, Violette Vornicel-Guthmann, Willoughby and Selena Zeledon.
For more information, visit the French Film Festival page.
