Foreign film festival to be held at FAU

The Tournees French Film Festival will be held on the Boca Raton campus for its fifth year.

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The Tournées Festival starts on Feb. 3 in the Performing Arts building. Photo Illustration by Brittany Ferrendi | Staff Reporter

Brittany Ferrendi and Patrick Martin

Students will have the opportunity to enjoy thought-provoking foreign flicks during the month of February on the Boca Raton campus.

The Tournees French Film Festival will be presented by Florida Atlantic from Feb. 3 through Feb. 29 in the Performing Arts Building, room 101, according to a news release from Polly Burks, the director of communication at FAU. Six separate films will be played throughout the month.

The first film — “Mood Indigo” — is a literary adaptation from Michel Gondry, a master of visual effects. It will air on Feb. 3 at 6 p.m.

“The festival gives students a chance to experience films that they might not otherwise encounter and which often don’t receive a theatrical release in Florida,” French professor and festival organizer Roderick Cooke said.

The Tournees festival is a national event held on college campuses with a twenty-year tradition.

Films are in French with English subtitles. At the end of each film, an FAU faculty presenter will moderate discussions based on audience questions and engagement.

“FAU has been lucky enough to host it for five of the last six years now,” Cooke said.

He decided on this year’s films — “Mood Indigo,” “Girlhood,” “The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq,” “Hiroshima Mon Amour,” “P’tit Quinquin” and “La French” — by trying to balance thought-provoking styles and themes that would also be enjoyable for a wide audience.

“French culture is in a particularly diverse and imaginative moment, and hopefully this selection gives people a taste of that diversity,” Cooke said.

He said when people see the words, “French film,” they might think the movies will fit a particular mold, but he stressed that the lineup of films this year will break the stereotype.

Liberty Gilmore, a junior studying biology education, said she would love to go to the festival.

“My best friend and her mom spoke [French], my friend was learning when we were little kids so I picked it up,” she said.

The Tournees Festival is presented by FAU’s Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature, the news release states.

Brittany Ferrendi is a staff writer for the University Press. If you would like to contact her regarding this or other articles, email her at [email protected].

Patrick Martin is the news editor of the University Press. For tips regarding this or other articles he can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.