Albertine Cinémathèque: Exploring Contemporary Topics through Francophone Film

By VIVIAN KOPKA

Beginning on Wednesday, February 26, the French department is hosting a francophone film festival. The festival is through the Albertine Foundation, formerly the Face Foundation. They are a part of the cultural services of the French Embassy, created to share French Culture with college students through French and francophone Cinema. 

This year, the films host a wide variety of cultures around the world. Joseph Derosier, French department head, received the grant and chose the movies this year. Upon seeing the list of films he could choose from, Derosier was elated about the diversity of directors, topics, and settings of the films. “The French government is promoting films that aren’t necessarily promoting France. Allowing films from Senegal and the Congo lets you think about international questions,” Derosier explains. 

For example “Lumumba: Death of a Prophet,” the one heritage film featured for the Albertine Cinémathèque,  is a documentary about the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the prime minister of  Congo, formerly known as Zaire. It highlights key elements of French colonization. A major part of France’s history is colonization so Derosier wanted to highlight the “importance of decolonization and countries coming out of the french empire.”

Albertine Cinémathèque focuses on smaller college towns–towns that normally wouldn’t be exposed to French cinema. So, Beloit is the perfect place. Even if international films are available on a smaller screen, a theater gives an audience a whole different, shared experience. Derosier expresses his love for cinema, “it’s one of my big passions. Having a place like the Weissberg is really important. A shared community space, for ninety minutes or however long, we are sharing this experience together.”

To facilitate deeper understanding of each film, French students are researching, introducing, and leading a discussion on each film. 

There are a variety of films being shown on February 26, 27, and 28, and March 5, 6, and 7, all at 7:15 p.m. in the Weissberg Auditorium. Each showing is completely free, and each movie is vastly different from the other. To view the schedule, click here. 

_{Featured image: Still from the film “Disco Boy”}