Month: April 2024

Women's Rights Now

Talk

Emilienne Malfatto’s short novel Que sur toi se lamente le Tigre won the 2021 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman. The English edition May the Tigris Grieve for You was longlisted for the 2024 Republic of Consciousness Prize. The chronicle of a death foretold – that of a young Iraqi woman who has committed the ultimate taboo of becoming pregnant out of wedlock, Malfatto's powerful poly-vocal story evokes Greek tragedy. Lorna Scott Fox, poet Naima Rashid and musician Maia Mutawi, will read out the entire book. After the reading, the audience will have the opportunity to meet the author, and purchase signed copies of the book.

Historical Perspectives

Talk

In My Port of Beirut, Lebanese author, illustrator and visual artist Lamia Ziadé weaves together the play-by-play of the explosion that occurred in the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020. A tragedy that is also the subject of a series of reports by Albert Londres Prize-winning journalist Caroline Hayek. Together with Professor Lina Khatib (SOAS University of London) and writer Malu Halasa, they will investigate the historical and political background of the event, as well as the personal stories and the crystallisation of the frustration of a people torn between anger and love.

In partnership with English PEN

From Page to Screen

Screening

FRA | 2023 | 116 mins | dir. Cédric Kahn, with Arieh Worthalter, Arthur Harari, Stéphan Guérin-Tillié | In French with EN subs | Cert TBC

A tense, edge-of-the-seat courtroom drama powerfully recreating the trial of Pierre Goldman in 1976 France, which was widely acknowledged as the most divisive case since the Dreyfus Affair of 1894. Prosecuted for a triple murder during the armed robbery of a Parisian pharmacy, Goldman, the rebellious son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, whose father was also a decorated Resistance fighter, refused to call any witnesses to his character. Politically on the far left and defiantly Jewish in his identity, Goldman accused the police of institutional antisemitism and racism, and of conspiring to convict him of a crime of which he was innocent. Author of the groundbreaking Dim Memories of a Polish Jew born in France, Goldman was a fine speaker. Selected to open the Critics Week in Cannes, The Goldman Case earned Arieh Worthalter the 2024 César for Best Actor.

From Marseille with Love

Talk

Explore Marseille from the inside with local writers. Vérane Frédiani, author of Taste the World in Marseille, will make you discover the flavours, diverse cuisine and talents of her hometown. Award-winning Marion Brunet, renowned for her detective stories set in Marseille will unveil a darker side of the city. Joined by broadcaster, writer and photographer Johny Pitts, who spent time with local communities in the city, and journalist Mary Fitzgerald, they will give you an authentic taste of Marseille’s vibrant energy.

For a full Marseille immersion and to top it all, a free glass of Ricard pastis will be offered from 17.00, courtesy of Pernod Ricard, in the foyer of the French Institute which will be specially dressed for the occasion! Get more flavours from the South with Gazette’s special menu including Marseille’s famous bouillabaisse !

From Marseille with Love

Screening

FRA | 2023 | 66 mins | doc | dir. David Yon | in French with EN subs | Cert. TBC | UK Premiere

In a mineral black and white that breaks with the usual blue sky of Marseille, I Will Never Heal summons three anonymous figures, two men and a woman, whose lives are exposed and intertwined through fragments of existences and stories. The film tells us about the way these three people ward off and overcome an unfavourable fate (blindness, imprisonment), or simply the throes of life (mourning). (Claire Lasolle, FID)

In partnership with FID Marseille

FRA | 2023 | 106 mins | dir. Robert Guédiguian, with Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan, Lola Naymark , Robinson Stévenin, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet | in French with EN subs | cert. TBC | UK Premiere

In the working-class district of old Marseille, Rosa is the heart and soul of her community, a nurse and the matriarch of a large and close-knit family. But approaching retirement and surrounded by political inertia, she is feeling disillusioned. Until she meets Henri and realises it is never too late to fulfill her own political and personal dreams.

Robert Guédiguian is back to his Marseille roots with this militant and hopeful portrait of a woman (Venice Best Actress winner Ariane Ascaride) in the midst of inspirational changes.

Followed by a live virtual Q&A with director Robert Guédiguian

For a full Marseille immersion and to top it all, a free glass of Ricard pastis will be offered from 17.00, courtesy of Pernod Ricard, in the foyer of the French Institute which will be specially dressed for the occasion! Get more flavours from the South with Gazette’s special menu including Marseille’s famous bouillabaisse !

From Marseille with Love

Talk

Join us to this special event celebrating the city of Marseille and its writers on Saturday 11 May at 15.30.

Discover the Phocaean city and its inhabitants with Rémi Duchêne, author of L'Embarcadère des lettres and L'Escale des géants, Marseille et les écrivains, 1830-1900, through some of the most illustrious literary tributes to Marseille’s rich heritage.

Actors from Act'in Theatre Candice Desmet and Briac Lemetais will then read a selection of emblematic texts by Marcel Pagnol and other literary greats such as Albert Cohen and Colette.

For a full Marseille immersion and to top it all, a free glass of Ricard pastis will be offered from 17.00, courtesy of Pernod Ricard, in the foyer of the French Institute which will be specially dressed for the occasion! Get more flavours from the South with Gazette’s special menu including Marseille’s famous bouillabaisse !

Pagnol - The Marseille Trilogy

Screening

FRA | 1931 | 127 mins | dir. Alexander Korda, with Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis | in French with EN subs | 4K Restoration

Marius is a young man who loves his gruff and good-natured father César, and also Fanny, who sells shells in front of César’s bar. Since his childhood, the desire to run the world inflames him. He doesn’t want to abandon his father, who might die of grief, nor Fanny, who thinks only of him. And yet the sea is there…  Marius is a timeless film that explores the complexities of desire and duty, leaving audiences with a bittersweet reflection on the paths we choose in matters of the heart.

For a full Marseille immersion and to top it all, a free glass of Ricard pastis will be offered from 17.00, courtesy of Pernod Ricard, in the foyer of the French Institute which will be specially dressed for the occasion! Get more flavours from the South with Gazette’s special menu including Marseille’s famous bouillabaisse !

Pagnol - The Hills of Provence Trilogy

Screening

FRA | 1990 | 98 mins | dir. Yves Robert, with Philippe Caubère, Nathalie Roussel, Jean Carmet, Jean Rochefort | in French with EN subs | 8+ | Cert. U | 35 mm print

Every weekend the Pagnol family faces a very long walk under the hot sun to be able to spend two days in their lovely La Treille. Shortcuts across private estates make the task more bearable. Until one day, a stubborn caretaker catches them trespassing. Years later, Marcel buys a land with a castle and realises it is the very one his mother was so afraid of cutting across.

For a full Marseille immersion and to top it all, a free glass of Ricard pastis will be offered from 17.00, courtesy of Pernod Ricard, in the foyer of the French Institute which will be specially dressed for the occasion! Get more flavours from the South with Gazette’s special menu including Marseille’s famous bouillabaisse !

Women's Rights Now

Screening

FRA | 2023 | 118 mins | dir. Vanessa Filho, written by Vanessa Springora, François Pirot, Vanessa Filho, with Kim Higelin, Jean-Paul Rouve, Laetitia Casta | in French with EN subs | UK Premiere | Cert. 15

Paris, 1985. Vanessa is thirteen when she meets Gabriel Matzneff. A very smart and manipulative man, the fifty-year-old renowned writer seduces the young girl. The adolescent becomes the lover and muse of a man celebrated by the cultural and political establishment. Losing herself in the relationship, she gradually starts to realise how destructive and abnormal the situation is, until she finally sees Gabriel Matzneff for the predator he really is. Based on the autobiographical book by writer Vanessa Springora, Consent takes the public onto a long journey through trauma and healing as she attempts to free herself from a man’s powerful influence.

The film will be followed by a Q&A with director Vanessa Filho