Suranimalism

Exhibition by the artist Jérôme Couëlle

A self taught artist, Jérôme Couëlle was born in Aix en Provence in the south of France. Couëlle lived successively in Africa, United States, Italy and Canada where he worked as a Department Store Corporate Executive in charge of design, packaging and merchandise presentation, while still taking time to write and illustrate childrens' books for the Iltalian publisher Mondadori, as well as teaching children to develop their innate sense of design and colour. For the past twenty years, Couëlle has been solely devoting his time to painting out of both his studios on the shores of Lake Champlain in North Hero, Vermont and in the Rosedale Valley in Toronto.

« My paintings are dedicated to the animals whom I call « suranimals » for they are all knowing, to the children, to the artists, to the poets, the writers, the musicians who refuse to be chained to what used to be, and do not accept the world as their reason has taught them, but have freed their eyes to be the true window to peer into infinity. »

For more information : www.jeromecouelleartist.com or jerome.couelle@primus.ca

Roundtable on:

The Place of Art and the Artist in Moroccan Society

Lahcen Zinoun (who directed La Beauté éparpillée [The Lost Beauty]) and Omar Chraïbi (who directed Tissée de mains et d’étoffe [Hands and Cloth]) will discuss the place of art and the artist in Moroccan society. This discussion will be facilitated by Marcelle, Lean director of Cinéfranco.

Come and discover the artistic pathways taken by these talented film-makers who will be showing their works at the Royal (608 College Street) between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 4.

As part of the Jeudis littéraires,

Stories and Tales of the Fantastic

with Mamadou Seck, Danièle Vallée and Dan Yashinsky, and the artistic collaboration of Marc Lemyre

Danièle Vallée is a recognized author and storyteller living in Ottawa. She has published seven books including five that were illustrated by well-known visual artists. She has brought some of her works to the stage, endowing them with an astounding artistic dimension that features various types of music. Ms. Vallée will present a tale taken from her Racontars show.

Dan Yashinsky founded the Toronto Festival of Storytelling (in l979), and co-founded the Storytellers School of Toronto. A working storyteller since l977, he has travelled to many parts of Canada and around the world telling and collecting stories. As a teller for children and teens, Dan works mostly with grade seven through high school. M. Yashinsky will speak about his book Suddenly They Heard Footsteps.

Mamadou Seck has established his own company, Talibé Communications; its main services include translation in a variety of fields such as education, the arts, etc. He has taken part in various artistic and cultural activities, e.g., a poetry/theatre recital at Laval University and courses in dramatic arts with the Carousel Theatre School in Vancouver. He has worked with Danièle Caloz, the project director at TVOntario, as a writer and announcer for the program entitled “Le passé au présent”. Mr. Seck will present a story and poem on the evening of April 16.

As part of the Société d’Histoire de Toronto’s monthly lectures:

Jean Calvin and Women

By Jane Couchman,
Professor Emeritus, French Studies, Multidisciplinary Studies and Women’s Studies, Glendon College

The 500th birthday of Jean Calvin will be observed on July 10, 2009. A number of “celebrations” of his birth are being planned, notably in Geneva, where the reformer settled following his exile from his native country in 1534. Calvin was born in Noyon in Picardie.

We will be celebrating one specific aspect of Calvin’s thought and activities, i.e., what he had to say about women in his writings and the connections he maintained with a number of women – not only with his own wife, Idelette de Bure, but also with such female reformers as Marie Dentière and with women from the French nobility who were invited by Calvin to take part in establishing the Calvinist church in France.

For more information, please call 416-922-2014, ext. 35, or send an email to info@sht.ca

The Alliance Française of Toronto presents a cabaret-chanson :

" Baisers volés "

With Emerald Doyle and guests : Soozi Schlanger, Philippe Flahaut et Amélie Lefebvre

It’s well known that songs transcend time and borders, requiring no passport other than their combination of words and melodies to throw the doors of our hearts wide open. But, over the course of their wanderings, songs undergo unpredictable transformations. Occasionally the original impulse is indeed retained in another language (for example, “La Complainte de Mackie”, which is the French version of “Mack the Knife”, in which Vian brilliantly recreates the world of Weill and Brecht); but it sometimes turns out that a song tells us a completely different story. Arlo Guthrie’s “Spirit of New Orleans” is an ode to the end of a way of life while Joe Dassin’s French version, “Salut les amoureux”, becomes an ode to the end of love.

These parallel existences are explored by Franco-Ontarian performer Emerald Doyle and her guests (Soozi Schlanger, Philippe Flahaut and Amélie Lefebvre) in “Baisers volés” [Stolen Kisses], a cabaret-chanson in which memories and surprises become intertwined in the listener’s ear.

Dominique Denis, Artistic Director

The Alliance Française and the National Film Board are pleased to present two evening programs featuring the annual selection of the Lutins du court-métrage [Leprechauns of the Short Film].

Les Lutins du court-métrage has been actively promoting the public distribution of short films since 1998. It has participated in the emergence of such directors and actors as François Ozon, Jérémie Rénier, Ludivine Sagnier, Sylvie Testud and many others, thereby playing a vital role in discovering the new cinematic talents of tomorrow. The organization’s objective is to bring the short film out into the open through a variety of initiatives; these include a festival and a tour of several French cities as well as overseas initiatives.

List of short films featured on April 7th :

Carlitopolis redux, de Nieto – Animation (3’10)
Deweneti, de Dyana Gaye – Fiction, avec Abbas Ba (15’)
Irinka et Sandrinka, de Sandrine Stoianov et Jean-Charles Finck – Animation (16’)
Mic Jean-Louis, de Kathy Sebbah – Fiction / documentaire, avec Birghit Chauveau et Jean-Louis Mic (26’30)
L’enfant borne / The outer limits child – Fiction de Pascal Mieszala, avec Valérie Blanchon et Gautier Van Lieshout (15’)
Je suis une voix / One voice one vote, de Jeanne Paturle et Cécile Rousset – Animation / documentaire (13’30).

List of short films featured on April 28th:

Décroche / Pick up, de Manuel Schapira – Fiction, avec Laetita Spigarelli et Jacky Iso (17’20)
Entracte / Intermission, de Yann Gonzalez – Fiction, avec Kate Moran, Pierre Vincent Chapus et Salvatore Viviano (15’)
La mémoire des chiens / The memories of dog, de Simone Massi – Animation (8’)
La dernière journée / The last day, d’Olivier Bourbeillon – Documentaire, (11’40)
Heureux qui comme Edouard – Fiction de Vincent Burgevin et Franck Lebon, avec Jennifer Colin et Boris Vigneron (21’15)
Manon sur le bitume / Manon on the asphalt, d’Elizabeth Marre et Olivier Pont – Fiction, avec Aude Léger et Xavier Boiffier (15’)

As part of Universciné,

Violence des échanges en milieu tempéré [Work Hard, Play Hard]

By Jean-Marc Moutout (2004 – 1 hr. 33 min.)
With Jérémie Rénier, Laurent Lucas, Cylia Malki, Olivier Perrier, Samir Guesmi

Philippe (25) arrives from the provinces in Paris to take up a job in a large consulting firm. On the morning oh his first day at work he meets Eva, a young solo mother. They quickly become involved. He’s enthusiastic about his first mission which is to audit a small factory whith view to a takeover by a large corporation…

« “The strength of Violence des échanges… lies primarily in its extreme preciseness – the preciseness of a dynamiter – seen in its meticulously rendered images, its extraordinarily effective dialogues and its carefully timed dramatic progression.” » Télérama

FESTIVAL CINÉFRANCO 2009

March 27 to April 5

For additional programming details and to purchase tickets, please call 416-967-1528 or visit: http://www.cinefranco.com/

The films will be shown at the Royal Cinéma: 608 College Street (4 intersections west of Bathurst).

Special rate of $8.50 (regularly $10) for Alliance Française students and members when they show their membership cards.

Master Class with Michel Brault

Cinéfranco, the Bureau du Québec à Toronto and the National Film Board of Canada present a “Master Class” with Michel Brault.

Share a coffee and croissant with the great film-maker as he talks about his remarkable works. Michel Brault’s name appears in the credits for nearly 200 productions in such capacities as cameraman, director of photography, producer and director. As film director or director of photography, he has participated in the making of four of the 10 best Canadian films of all times.

As part of Rencontres et Chansons :

Chuck Labelle and His Group

Come and enjoy a country-rock concert with Chuck Labelle – one of the few cowboys performing French-language country music in English-speaking Canada. He grew up in both cultures and has even discovered Amerindian roots that explain why he is so drawn to certain themes.

Information: Bernard Dionne at rencontresenchansons@yahoo.ca

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
[The Would-Be Gentleman]
by Molière

Presented by “La Troupe des Anciens” of the University of Toronto

Music by Jean-Baptiste Lully

Tickets: $20
$15 for students, AFT members and AFT students on showing card.

Le Théâtre français de Toronto presents,

Le dîner de cons [The Dinner Game],
by Francis Veber

Directed by Guy Mignault

With Stéphanie Broschart, Paul Essiembre, Marianne Lambert, Jean-Michel Le Gal, René Lemieux and Pierre Simpson

This piece, a cult hit onstage and in film, has become synonymous with scathing comedy that denounces the excesses of today’s society. Its premise begins with some characters tracking down a complete idiot and inviting him to dinner with the intention of mocking him the entire evening without his ever realizing it. But what happens when the game does not unfold as planned, when nothing seems to stop the invited idiot from making things worse?

Please visit the TfT’s official site for ticket prices and other information: http://www.theatrefrancais.com/right_billets.php