Events

A propos du livre : Les narrateurs sont deux frères nés de mère algérienne et de père allemand. Ils ont été élevés par un vieil oncle immigré dans une cité de la banlieue parisienne, tandis que leurs parents restaient dans leur village d'Aïn Deb, près de Sétif. En 1994, le GIA massacre une partie de la population du bourg. Pour les deux fils, le deuil va se doubler d'une douleur bien plus atroce : la révélation de ce que fut leur père, cet Allemand qui jouissait du titre prestigieux de moudjahid... Basé sur une histoire authentique, le roman propose une réflexion véhémente et profonde, nourrie par la pensée de Primo Levi.

Il relie trois épisodes à la fois dissemblables et proches : la Shoah, vue à travers le regard d'un jeune Arabe qui découvre avec horreur la réalité de l'extermination de masse ; la sale guerre des années 1990 en Algérie ; la situation des banlieues françaises, et en particulier la vie des Algériens qui s'y trouvent depuis deux générations dans un abandon croissant de la République. "À ce train, dit un personnage, parce que nos parents sont trop pieux et nos gamins trop naïfs, la cité sera bientôt une république islamique parfaitement constituée.
Vous devrez alors lui faire la guerre si vous voulez seulement la contenir dans ses frontières actuelles." Sur un sujet aussi délicat, Boualem Sansal parvient à faire entendre une voix d'une sincérité bouleversante.


Le club de lecture : Vous aimez la littérature française ? Apprendre plus sur la culture et l'histoire de la France et des pays francophones ? Vous voulez rencontrer d'autres francophones ? Si oui, inscrivez-vous au Club de Lecture ! Il se réunit une fois par mois dans une classe autour d'un apéritif. Le Club est auto-géré : chaque mois, une personne est choisie pour proposer des questions pour le livre suivant.

Vous pouvez acheter le livre à la bibliothèque pour $10, dans la limite du stock disponible.

Prix : Gratuit. Résérvé aux membres de l'AFDC. L'inscription est obligatoire.

Ciné-Mômes (FR) - January 25, 2019 | 7pm--9pm

We are excited to bring back our Ciné-Mômes program for 2018/2019!

Come discover newly released and classic French films for children! Join on us on January 25th for critically accalimed franco-belgian film Jack et la mécanique du cœur. Below you'll find a description of the movie in French and English.

Édimbourg 1874. Jack naît le jour le plus froid du monde et son cœur en reste gelé. Le Docteur Madeleine le sauve en remplaçant son cœur défectueux par une horloge mécanique. Il survivra avec ce bricolage magique à condition de respecter 3 lois: premièrement ne pas toucher à ses aiguilles, deuxièmement maîtriser sa colère et surtout ne jamais Ô grand jamais, tomber amoureux. Sa rencontre avec Miss Acacia, une petite chanteuse de rue, va précipiter la cadence de ses aiguilles. Prêt à tout pour la retrouver, Jack se lance tel un Don Quichotte dans une quête amoureuse qui le mènera des lochs écossais, à Paris jusqu'aux portes de l'Andalousie. 

A 19th-century drama about a man whose heart was replaced with a clock when he was born. The situation dictates that he should avoid feeling strong emotions -- love, most of all -- but he just can't keep his feelings under wraps.

Watch the trailer in French and English.

This event will be in French. Kids ages 9 to 14.

For questions please contact Adeline D'HONDT or Kelsey HAMMER

Do Re Mi, les amis (FR)

Saturday, January 26th - 10:00am

Join us for a musical story time with Achille!

Enjoy traditional French songs during a fun, immersion-based program once a month on Saturday mornings from 10:00am to 10:45am.

La Chandeleur

Saturday, February 2nd - 10:00am

Calling all crêpe lovers!

The AFDC Library will offering crêpes for purchase to celebrate la chandeleur. Crêpes will be available to purchase for $2 in the library on a first come first serve basis. You can also buy in advance to reserve your crêpe! Please note that there is a limited quantity of crêpes.

Questions? Email Adeline D'HONDT or Kelsey HAMMER

PARIS NOUS APPARTIENT

Movie by Jacques Rivette - 1961 - Film à énigme -  2h20

À Paris, au cours de l'été 1957, en dépit de difficultés matérielles, un groupe de jeunes gens se prépare à monter Périclès, prince de Tyr, de Shakespeare. Cependant, les répétitions sont troublées par divers événements. Anne, venue rejoindre son frère Pierre, perturbe le groupe en flirtant avec l'un des garçons. Dans le même temps, Philip, un Américain victime du maccarthysme, suscite l'angoisse au sein de la troupe en évoquant le complot qui a entraîné le suicide d'un compositeur espagnol.

Anne Goupil is a literature student in Paris in 1957. Her elder brother, Pierre, takes her to a friend's party where the guests include Philip Kaufman, an expatriate American escaping McCarthyism, and Gerard Lenz, a theatre director who arrives with the mysterious woman Terry. The talk at the party is about the apparent suicide of their friend Juan, a Spanish activist who had recently broken up with Terry. Philip warns Anne that the forces that killed Juan will soon do the same to Gerard. Gerard is trying to rehearse Shakespeare's "Pericles", although he has no financial backing. Anne takes a part in the play to help Gerard, and to try to discover why Juan died. Now regarded as one of the pioneering efforts in the French "New Wave" movement, Paris Belongs to Us was also the first feature-length effort of director (and former critic and film theorist) Jacques Rivette.

Alliance Française and French magazine Les Cahiers du Cinéma are partnering again to bring you the Ciné-Club! Sarah Diligenti, Executive Director, cinema lover and expert, will introduce the film. After the screening, she will lead a discussion and moderate a Q&A Session with the viewers.

Doors open at 6:15pm. Happy Hour from 6:30pm to 7:00pm - The movie will start at 7:00PM.

Event in English, movie in French with English subtitles.

Check out the trailer here! 

AFDC Member & Culture Pass: FREE - General Admission: $15 + fee

Culture & Events policies:

• The member discount is applicable for one ticket per member.
• Guests must pay the non-member price.
• Refunds will be issued when Alliance française cancels an event, or upon a 24-hour request for refund with or without cause sent via email to cultureaf(at)francedc.org by an attendee. No other refunds will be given.
• The cultural department highly recommends advanced registration (online, by phone, or in person), as events sell out quickly.
• If tickets are available, the AFDC can accept payment at the door by credit card, check, or cash (exact change only). The AFDC cannot make change at the door. The AFDC reserves the right to refuse entry to sold out events.

FAQs

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event? No need.

Can I update my registration information? Yes on eventbrite, you can update your personal information as well as cancel your ticket

Is it ok if the name on my ticket or registration doesn't match the person who attends? YES no problem for us!

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event? Closest bus stops L1, L2 and 42. Metro stations red line Dupont circle or Woodley park-zoo.

Heure du Conte (FR)

Saturday, February 9th - 10:00am

Join us for story time in French with Madeline!

Enjoy French and English stories in this interactive program once a month on Saturday mornings from 10:00am to 10:30am.

Do Re Mi, les amis (FR)

Saturday, February 16th - 10:00am

Join us for a musical story time with Achille!

Enjoy traditional French songs during a fun, immersion-based program once a month on Saturday mornings from 10:00am to 10:45am.

A propos du livre : De 2012 à 2016, la banlieue rebelle de Daraya a subi un siège implacable imposé par Damas. Quatre années de descente aux enfers, rythmées par les bombardements au baril d'explosifs, les attaques au gaz chimique, la soumission par la faim. Face à la violence du régime de Bachar al-Assad, une quarantaine de jeunes révolutionnaires syriens a fait le pari insolite d'exhumer des milliers d'ouvrages ensevelis sous les ruines pour les rassembler dans une bibliothèque clandestine, calfeutrée dans un sous-sol de la ville.
Leur résistance par les livres est une allégorie : celle du refus absolu de toute forme de domination politique ou religieuse. Elle incarne cette troisième voix, entre Damas et Daech, née des manifestations pacifiques du début du soulèvement anti-Assad de 2011, que la guerre menace aujourd'hui d'étouffer. Ce récit, fruit d'une correspondance menée par Skype entre une journaliste française et ces activistes insoumis, est un hymne à la liberté individuelle, à la tolérance et au pouvoir de la littérature.


Le club de lecture : Vous aimez la littérature française ? Apprendre plus sur la culture et l'histoire de la France et des pays francophones ? Vous voulez rencontrer d'autres francophones ? Si oui, inscrivez-vous au Club de Lecture ! Il se réunit une fois par mois dans une classe autour d'un apéritif. Le Club est auto-géré : chaque mois, une personne est choisie pour proposer des questions pour le livre suivant.

Vous pouvez acheter le livre à la bibliothèque pour $10, dans la limite du stock disponible.

Prix : Gratuit. Résérvé aux membres de l'AFDC. L'inscription est obligatoire.

In an era when men went to battle donning embroidered coats with gold buttons and buckles, silk stockings, powdered wigs, and full makeup, participants in the French military enterprise changed the face of war as we know it. Indeed, as Professor Christy Pichichero argues in her recent book The Military Enlightenment: War and Culture in the French Empire from Louis XIV to Napoleon (Cornell, 2017; finalist Oscar Kenshur Book Prize, 2018), the Geneva Conventions, post-traumatic stress disorder, the military “band of brothers,” and soldierly heroism all found their antecedents in the eighteenth-century French armed forces. From the wars of the Sun King through those of the “Little Corporal,” from Canada to the Caribbean and India, the military was one of the few institutions of Old Regime France to transform progressive theories into practice, actually operationalizing the Enlightenment. At the AFDC, Professor Pichichero will share her fascinating discoveries and entertaining historical anecdotes for an evening of intellectual discussion and fun.

ABOUT THE LECTURER: Dr. Christy Pichichero is Associate Professor of French and History at George Mason University. She earned her A.B. in Comparative Literature at Princeton University, a bachelor’s of music in opera singing from the Eastman School of Music, and a Ph.D. in French Studies from Stanford University. She has held fellowships at Cambridge University (King’s College), the École Normale Supérieure (Paris), West Point Military Academy, and the Society of the Cincinnati. She is the author of The Military Enlightenment and articles on military culture and French neoclassical theater, painter Antoine Watteau, the history of emotions, race, and multiculturalism in France. She lives in Georgetown with her husband and two daughters.

Event in English. Light refreshments after the event. Book on sale for signing on the day of the event.

AFDC Member / Culture Pass: $10 + Processing Fees - General Admission: $15 + Processing Fees.

Culture & Events policies:

• The member discount is applicable for one ticket per member.
• Guests must pay the non-member price.
• Refunds will be issued when Alliance française cancels an event, or upon a 24-hour request for refund with or without cause sent via email to cultureaf(at)francedc.org by an attendee. No other refunds will be given.
• The cultural department highly recommends advanced registration (online, by phone, or in person), as events sell out quickly.
• If tickets are available, the AFDC can accept payment at the door by credit card, check, or cash (exact change only). The AFDC cannot make change at the door. The AFDC reserves the right to refuse entry to sold out events.

2 hours street parking from 7:30am to 8:30pm.

Ciné-Mômes (FR) - February 22, 2019 | 7pm--9pm

We are excited to bring back our Ciné-Mômes program for 2018/2019!

Come discover newly released and classic French films for children! Join on us on February 22nd for the fun animated comedy Sahara. Below you'll find a description of the movie in French and English.

Lassés d’être les souffre-douleur de leur communauté, Ajar le serpent et son pote Pitt le scorpion décident de tenter leur chance dans l'oasis voisine où vit la haute bourgeoisie du désert saharien et d'y retrouver Eva, une belle serpente dont Ajar est tombé fou amoureux.

C’est le début de folles aventures qui les amèneront à traverser le désert à la poursuite de l’amour et plus encore à la découverte d’eux-mêmes…

A young cobra and his scorpion best friend go on a journey across the Sahara desert to save a new-found love.

Watch the trailer in French and English.

This event will be in French. Kids ages 5 to 12.

For questions please contact Adeline D'HONDT or Kelsey HAMMER

Is Digital Activism a trend, a fad, a curse, or a blessing? The AFDC invites you to a town hall meeting with Sandra Muller, the French journalist who created the #balancetonporc hashtag. Everyone can speak (respectfully). The Alliance Française Executive Director Sarah Diligenti will moderate this exciting debate.

Ms. Muller's book #Balance ton porc (in French) will be for sale the day of event.

This event will be in English. Light refreshments after the Q&A session.

AFDC Member / Culture Pass: FREE  - General Admission: $10 + Processing Fees .

Culture & Events policies:

• The member discount is applicable for one ticket per member.
• Guests must pay the non-member price.
• Refunds will be issued when Alliance française cancels an event, or upon a 24-hour request for refund with or without cause sent via email to cultureaf(at)francedc.org by an attendee. No other refunds will be given.
• The cultural department highly recommends advanced registration (online, by phone, or in person), as events sell out quickly.
• If tickets are available, the AFDC can accept payment at the door by credit card, check, or cash (exact change only). The AFDC cannot make change at the door. The AFDC reserves the right to refuse entry to sold out events.

2 hours street parking from 7:00am to 8:30pm.

The Alliance Française is pleased to work with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) to organize these guided tours in French as part of the month-long DC Francophonie Festival (www.francophonie-dc.org).

The tours will include highlights of the museum’s current exhibitions with special attention to objects from Francophone countries. Participants in the tour are assured a diverse group of works and historical time periods!

These tours are free, but registration is mandatory. Tours will take place throughout the Festival: 

• Sunday, March 3rd: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

• Thursday, March 7th:  12:00PM – 1:30PM

• Sunday, March 10th: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

• Thursday, March 14th, 12:00PM – 1:30PM

• Sunday, March 17th: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

• Thursday, March 21st: 12:00PM – 1:30PM

• Sunday, March 24th: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

• Thursday, March 28th: 12:00PM – 1:30PM

Your guide will meet you at the Reception Desk on the Ground Level.

The National Museum of African Art is located at:
950 Independence Ave., SW (Metro: Smithsonian, exit: Independence Avenue)
For additional information: https://africa.si.edu/

Note: These tours are intended for individuals or families. Should your school or organization wish to schedule a group of 10 or more persons then please fill out the online form at https://africa.si.edu/education/plan-a-field-trip/. Your request will be handled immediately. If you have questions, please email Ms. Palmyra Jackson, NMAfA Public Programming and Outreach Assistant at jacksonpal@si.edu.

The Alliance Française is pleased to work with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) to organize these guided tours in French as part of the month-long DC Francophonie Festival (www.francophonie-dc.org).

The tours will include Highlights of the museum’s current exhibitions with special attention to objects from Francophone countries. Participants in the tour are assured a diverse group of works and historical time periods!

These tours are free, but registration is mandatory. Tours will take place throughout the Festival: 

•   Sunday, March 3rd: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

•   Thursday, March 7th:  12:00PM – 1:30PM

•   Sunday, March 10th: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

•   Thursday, March 14th, 12:00PM – 1:30PM

•   Sunday, March 17th: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

•   Thursday, March 21st: 12:00PM – 1:30PM

•   Sunday, March 24th: 1:00PM – 2:30PM

•   Thursday, March 28th: 12:00PM – 1:30PM

Your guide will meet you at the Reception Desk on the Ground Level.

The National Museum of African Art is located at:
950 Independence Ave., SW (Metro: Smithsonian, exit: Independence Avenue)
For additional information: https://africa.si.edu/

Note: These tours are intended for individuals or families. Should your school or organization wish to schedule a group of 10 or more persons then please fill out the online form at https://africa.si.edu/education/plan-a-field-trip/. Your request will be handled immediately. If you have questions, please email Ms. Palmyra Jackson, NMAfA Public Programming and Outreach Assistant at jacksonpal@si.edu.

Recovered Memory: New York and Paris 1960-1980 is a meditation on time and place and an ode to the New York and Paris of yesterday—before the internet and 24/7 news. These two great cities, connecting the Old World and the New, are the cultural capitals of the West. Frank Van Riper’s striking black and white photographs and eloquent text capture the 20th-century romance and grit of these two remarkable places when the pace of daily life was slower and somehow less threatening.

Drawing on his talents as a documentary photographer and journalist, Frank Van Riper reflects on a time when one could visit the Eiffel Tower without seeing police and automatic weapons, when a ride on the New York subway cost 15 cents, when the smell of fresh-baked baguettes wafted over nearly every Parisian neighborhood— when the Coney Island parachute ride still thrilled thousands.

Event in English. Books available for sale. Light refreshments after event.

AFDC Member / Culture Pass: $10 + Processing Fees  - General Admission: $15 + Processing Fees.

Culture & Events policies:

• The member discount is applicable for one ticket per member.
• Guests must pay the non-member price.
• Refunds will be issued when Alliance française cancels an event, or upon a 24-hour request for refund with or without cause sent via email to cultureaf(at)francedc.org by an attendee. No other refunds will be given.
• The cultural department highly recommends advanced registration (online, by phone, or in person), as events sell out quickly.
• If tickets are available, the AFDC can accept payment at the door by credit card, check, or cash (exact change only). The AFDC cannot make change at the door. The AFDC reserves the right to refuse entry to sold out events.

2 hours street parking from 7:30am to 8:30pm.