News
The Institut français (including Ciné Lumière, La Médiathèque, Bibliothèque Quentin Blake and Café Tangerine) is temporarily closed until further notice, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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French Comics Apéro
Comics are a powerful vector for stories of migrations. To build on the momentum of the Refugee Week, French Comics Apero will open space for dialogue around modern-day and past migrations. Travel conditions, complex and often painful realities, but also desires and hopes: through their favorite authors, our librarians will walk you through individual stories, from Cambodia to the Ivory Coast, and open the door to refugee camps, such as Calais’s jungle in France and the numerous ones in Italy.
On your side, select your favourite comics and get ready to explain other participants why you recommend it. Classics include Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, L’eau et la terre by Séra, Humains, la Roya est un fleuve by Baudoin and Troubs and Alpha, Abidjan-Gare du Nord by Bessora and Barroux.
Tue 30 June 6pm – free
To register and get the link, send an e-mail to : library@institutfrancais.org.uk
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Virtual Live Reading Group
Our traditional Reading Group switches back online!
Join us to discover great francophone writers recently translated into English in a lively discussion on books and literature in both languages!
Thu 9 July 6pm – Sérotonine (Serotonin, translated by Shaun Whiteside at William Heinemann) and other works by Michel Houellebecq.
£5, conc.£3
in English and French
Once registered, send an email to library@institutfrancais.org.uk, we’ll send you back a zoom link!
FOCUS
From rock, pop and dance, to jazz and classical music, La Médiathèque is buzzing with an incredible music selection. Discover, read and listen to the hottest French artists with this winter selection.
Gadjo Dilo, dir. by T.Gatlif | DVD with English and Fr. subs
L’écume des jours, dir. by M. Gondry | DVD
Gainsbourg, dir. by J.Sfar | DVD with Eng. subs
Pick an album from our Culturethèque selections and listen to it on the 1Dtouch platform, the first fair-trade streaming service dedicated to independent musical creation.
OUR HEARTS SKIP A BEAT FOR THIS SELECTION OF DOCUMENTS
Our Cinema specialist’s choices
– Frantz, dir. by F. Ozon, 2016 | DVD (French subtitles available)
Just after the Great War, in a small German town, Anna returns each day to the cemetery to the grave of her fiancé, Frantz, who died on the frontlines in France.
But this particular day, Adrien, a young Frenchman, has come to lay flowers on the grave of his German friend.
The presence of a Frenchman after the German defeat gives rise to passionate reactions in the town.
– La Danseuse, dir. by Stéphanie di Giusto, 2016 | DVD (French subtitles available)
Loïe Fuller was born in the American West. Nothing in her background prepared this robust cowgirl to become the toast of the Parisian cabarets of La Belle Epoque, even less to dance on the stage of the Paris Opera. Then she invents the “Serpentine Dance.” Hidden by yards of floating fabric, her arms extended by two wooden poles, as she moves beneath the stage lights; Loïe becomes a flower, a butterfly, flames, and each night crowds call out for more. But her encounter with Isadora Duncan, a prodigious young dancer hungry for fame and glory, will precipitate the fall of this icon at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Our Children’s Librarians like
– Mon imagiers des vêtements, by Nathalie Choux | First Non Fiction Book
– Comptines pour Compter, by C. Hudrisier | Audio Book
– Maman Renard, by Amandine Momenceau | Picture Books
– Océano, by Anouck & Louis Rigaud | Pop-up Book
– Un si terrible secret, by Evelyn Brisou-Pellen | Teens’ Novel
– Mercredi, by Anne Bertier | Picture Book
Discover our handpicked selection on of the latest Children’s e-book on Culturethèque
Our Comics specialist says
– Culottées 2, by Pénélope Bagieu | Comic Book
– La Légèreté, by Catherine Meurisse | Comic Book
– Coquelicots d’Irak, by B. Findakly & L. Trondheim | Comic Book
– Bon baisers d’Iran, by Lenaïc Vilain | Comic Book
– Dans la Combi de Thomas Pesquet, by Marion Montaigne | Comic Book
– Par les chemins noirs, by David B. | Comic Book
– Jour J (27) : Les ombres de Constantinople, by Fred Duval & Jean-Pierre Pécau | Comic Book
Our literature expert recommends
– La Nuit pour adresse, by Maud Simonnot | Novel (in French)
– The French Art of War, by Alexis Jenni (translated by Franck Wynne) | Novel (in English)
– Celui qui est digne d’être aimé, by Abdellah Taïa | Novel (in French)
– En Finir avec Eddy Bellegueule, by Edouard Louis | Novel
also available in English : The End of Eddy
– Boussole, by Mathias Enard | Culturethèque – eBook
– This Little Art, Kate Briggs and Daniel Hahn on Translation | Podcast – Culturetheque
Our Music specialist recommends
– Quand Rennes s’est révélée rock, by Grégoire Laville | Non-Fiction Book
– Ibifornia, by Cassius, 2016 | CD- Electro
– Mammifères, by Christophe Miossec, 2016 | CD – Chanson française
– Doni doni, by Erik Truffaz Quartet. Foufino productions, 2016 | CD – Jazz
– Fearless, by Marian Kaye.Capitol, 2015 | CD- Pop
Discover Culturethèque’s extensive music selection! Browse through 68,000 artists from independent labels featured on 1Dtouch, a new fair-trade digital music platform available on Culturethèque, the free digital plateform of the Institut français.