The “Médiatique“ film series presents

La paix musclée de Carolyn McAskie

A documentary by Joseph Bitamba
(pour la SRC-RDI)

Who today would want to be at the head of a United Nations Mission? To disembark oneself in the eye of a cyclone without luggage or family only to find oneself the target of all gunshots trying to construct peace amongst rifles. When Carolyn McAskie arrives in Burundi, few observers thought her capable of bearing the weight and effecting positive change.

Nevertheless, when the United Nations asks McAskie to lead a peace mission in Burundi in 2003, this bilingual Canadian's enthusiasm that breaks off international negotiations. The muscular peace of Carolyn McAskie tells the story of this dangerous and onus mission.

In three years, Carolyn McAskie restablishes peace. Contrary to General Dallaire in Rwanda, she benefits from the power, adequate funding and constant support of the United Nations.

Since the release of this documentary, Burundi maintains a fragile state of peace.

As part of the monthly lecture series organized by the Société d’Histoire de Toronto,

Memory in two steps

With Danièle Caloz

Step II: Memory and History
Is memory enough for the historian?
What does one mean by “devoir de mémoire”?
History: a problematic and incomplete reconstruction
Some beautiful lies of History
New looking glasses for our History…

History is a succession of lies on which everybody is in agreement. - Napoleon Bonaparte

Please, note that Step I : Our Memory, will be presented on January 5thduring a special event organized by the SHT.Please contact Danièle Caloz : danielecaloz@mediatique.ca for the location.

This months edition of the Jeudis littéraires presents

Translating In Harmony

Poetry and Song

Translation is always a dangerous tight rope walk between sound and sense, especially with poetic translation. And what about when things become even more complicated by the demands of melody as in the translation of songs?

Three translators invite you to discuss poetic translation, focusing on the songs of George Brassens. No tin ears or dimwits need apply. The audience will be invited to participate…

“Just between us, let’s agree,
Ladies n’gents :
For us to know we’re not, we’d have to be
Intelligent.”
(Trans. Ray Ellenwood)

As part of the “Séminaires d’Histoire de France”,

La sale affaire:

Collaboration, Resistance and the Georges Boudarel Affair

With Katie Edwards

On February 13th, 1991, just as he was about to present his paper for a conference on Vietnamese current affairs at the Sénat in Paris, Professor Georges Boudarel was interrupted by a small group of veterans, who accused him of having been a ‘political commissar’ in Viet Minh Camp 113 during the Indochina war, and for therefore having “blood on his hands” given the high mortality rate. The “Boudarel Affair” had broken, provoking an intense public debate centred not only on Boudarel’s actions (which he qualified as anticolonial resistance), but on the nature of the Indochina war and the relative merits of the colonial project. This discussion analyses the debates surrounding the affair, its implications for the “memory” of the Indochina war, and its place within the broader memorial context.

Katie Edwards is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Professor Eric Jennings. She is currently writing her dissertation, which addresses the public memory of the Indochina war in France.

As part of Universciné,

À boire

Director: Marion Vernoux,
Featuring: Emmanuelle Béart, Atmen Kélif, Edouard Baer
Comedie, France, 2004, 90 min

Check out the movie trailer

Inès Larue could really use a drink: her lover has just left, leaving her a 12000 € hotel bill as a parting gift. Pierre-Marie Archambault could really use a drink: he has reached the end of a grueling period of abstinence imposed by his wife; this alcoholic doctor is at his wits end. Seb Abd Al Abbas could really use a drink: no sooner has he started his ski vacation, his arm is broken, his vacation a bust, and in addition, his religion forbids the consumption of alcohol.

Because no one awaits them, because they are as frozen as the snow that surrounds them, these three orphans will seek a stiff drink to get over the hump. What a mix: alcohol, love, mutual support…

Memoria

An exhibition of photographs by Sabrina Maltese

“Memoria serves as an archive of tangible remembrances of a place that will eventually fade in my memory. These images have an intentional silence to them, as if one must tip toe through the house. Emphasizing their fragility, the subjects are photographed in a way to demonstrate the feeling of a passing glance. These photographs attempt to capture both fleeting moments come and gone, and contemplative moments that become significant in the passing of time.

When people pass away, all that remains are their possessions, the things they leave behind. The physical being may be gone but their memories linger in the remnants of their lives. With this project, I have collected images of an era. With this project I have collected memories of my grandparents’ home, against the inevitable march of time.”

Sabrina Maltese received her B.F.A. from Ryerson University in June 2008. She currently lives and works in Toronto.