Coming Up At The French Institute Alliance Française, June 15–30

Coming Up at the French Institute Alliance Française, June 15-30. Full details below:

Hit French Series

The Bureau

Interactive Children's Performance,
Molière in the Park's Tartuffe,
Live Talks, Virtual CinéSalon, and More!

New York, NY, June 12, 2020 - Over the second half of June, FIAF is proud to continue its virtual programing with a series of events with the creators and producers of the hit French television series The Bureau, including a talk delving into the history of the show with creator Eric Rochant. FIAF will also premiere the virtual adaptation of the children's play She No Princess, He No Hero, partner with Moliere in the Park for its production of Tartuffe starring Raùl Esparza and Samira Wiley, continue its series of virtual film screenings, and offer French language classes and summer camps for kids.

Free Streaming and Talk

The Bureau (Le Bureau des légendes)

Monday, June 15, 2020 at 5pm
Conversation with The Bureau Creator Eric Rochant
Live on Zoom and Facebook
In English

Based upon real accounts of former spies and inspired by contemporary events, The Bureau is a smart and stylish spy saga centered on France's "Bureau of Legends," a government agency overseeing the training and deployment of deep-cover agents predominately on missions in North Africa and the Middle East.

FIAF offers a special look inside the acclaimed French espionage series in this conversation with creator and showrunner Eric Rochant. Named one of the best foreign film series on television by The New York Times, The Bureau has lifted the veil off of the covert world of deep-cover agents and secret services through four harrowing and exhilarating seasons. As Season 5 premieres June 18 on SundanceNow, Rochant talks with Emma Tucker, Editor of The Sunday Times, about his popular saga, from its inspiration in true stories from real spies to his decision to leave following this season.

In addition, the first two episodes of The Bureau Season 5 will be available to stream for free. FIAF members have the opportunity to watch the entire series with a free 30-day subscription to Sundance Now. More information and links are available here.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at Noon ET

Free Virtual FIAF:Talk

Chaos in the Middle East: Conversation with Gilles Kepel
Live on Zoom and Facebook
In English

In conjunction with the launch of Season 5 of The Bureau, Gilles Kepel, a leading French scholar of Middle East studies, joins FIAF for a special online talk separating fiction from reality. In a conversation with New York Times journalist, Robert F. Worth, who was the paper's Beirut bureau chief from 2007 to 2011, Kepel will present findings from his latest book Away from Chaos: The Middle East and the Challenge to the West. Together, they will discuss the causes of tension in the Middle East and its current prospects in light of the COVID-19 crisis, while sharing their personal experiences and observations.

More information is available here.

Saturday, June 20 at 11am ET
Free Virtual Performance for Families

She No Princess, He No Hero

Conception and direction by Johanny Bert
LIVE on Zoom and Facebook
Ages 7 & up • In English

Acclaimed French director Johanny Bert presented the world premiere of She No Princess, He No Hero at FIAF during the 2019 TILT Kids Festival. He has returned to this charming play about identity with an engaging new version adapted for Zoom and Facebook that allows kids to interact with the actors during the performance and a post-show Q&A.

Unfolding in two parts, the play is about Leïli and Nils, who are in the same class. Leïli likes to hunt, dress like boys, and gel her short hair. Nils likes to wear his hair long, shows his emotions, and is not physically strong. Neither conforms to gendered roles that society dictates. Told through the voices of Leïli and Nils, this intimate and poignant theater piece transports the audience into the minds of young boys and girls confronting the cultural stereotypes imposed on them as they come of age. Based on a text by acclaimed French playwright Magali Mougel, the play comes together like pieces of a puzzle, allowing the audience to deconstruct clichés about identity.

More information and RSVP here.

Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 2pm and 7pm ET

LIVE Virtual Performance

Tartuffe starring Raùl E. Esparza & Samira Wiley

In English with English and French closed captioning

Co-presented with Molière in the Park, and in partnership with the Prospect Park Alliance and LeFrak Center at Lakeside, FIAF is proud to present a live-stream presentation of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Wilbur's translation of Molière's Tartuffe, directed by Molière in the Park's Founding Artistic Director Lucie Tiberghien. Starring Tony and Obie award nominee Raùl E. Esparza and Emmy award winner Samira Wiley, Tartuffe centers on a dubiously pious crook, happy to use the bible as a prop for personal gain. He preys on Orgon, a naïve and confused aging patriarch, desperately grasping onto his fleeting power. Chaos ensues within the family until lies and fallacy are exposed and extracted from the home.

A live 20-minute Q&A with the cast and creative team immediately follows both performances. A recording of the performance will also be available online through July 1 at 2pm.

More information and RSVP for the performance here.

Through August 3
Virtual CinéSalon

Burning Bright: New French Filmmakers & New French Shorts 2020

Available to stream

Throughout the summer, FIAF will presenting the most exciting new voices in French Cinema, featuring seven extraordinary feature films and a program of seven delightful shorts, available on Kino Lorber's streaming platforms. Presented in partnership with Young French Cinema, a program of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States and UniFrance, the series highlights a film by an emerging director each week, from poignant if unconventional coming-of-age tales to examining relationships between elected officials and their communities. New French Shorts 2020 will be available continually through August 3.

See Burning Bright: New French Filmmakers press release here.
See New French Shorts 2020 press release here.

Francine Haskell Library Programs

The Francine Haskell Library continues its free conversation groups, language-learning programs, book clubs, and children's story time on Zoom. The online digital library, Culturethèque, also holds ebooks, magazines, podcasts, videos, bandes dessinées, and more. Upcoming programs include:

a-? Les petites histoires du vendredi, children's story time in French, Fridays 2pm ET
a-? Papotons conversation group, Wednesdays 4-5pm ET
a-? Les petites histoires du vendredi, children's story time in French, Fridays 2pm ET a-? Papotons conversation group, Wednesdays 4-5pm ET

FIAF Language Center

FIAF's fun and fully immersive French courses have continued online for all ages, for students at both the New York and Montclair locations. Summer camps for kids start on Monday, June 15.

More information on language courses is here.