Culture: Francophone festival in France

“Francofffonies with three ‘fs’ for fortissimo!”: this was the enthusiastic expression used by French Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres to introduce “Francofffonies! The Francophone Festival in France.” From 16 March to 9 October 2006, France will move to the rhythm of the French language’s cultural and linguistic diversity. Various artists hailing from different backgrounds and countries have been invited to express their distinctiveness and share their take on “La Francophonie”. It’s enough to make everybody become a Francophile!

Poland, China, Brazil are among the many countries honoured during France’s annual “Cultural Year” celebrations. This year, the theme selected is “La Francophonie”. Launched four years ago by French President Jacques Chirac, the “Francofffonies!” Festival celebrates all 63 states and governments involved with La Francophonie (OIF) and all those participating in the Francophone adventure. Senegalese President Abdou Diouf, Secretary General of the OIF and chairman of the 2006 Festival’s Honour Committee, has promised that “over two thousand artists, designers, intellectuals, scientists and entrepreneurs from around the world will breathe life and meaning into some 400 cultural events”. The Festival is “a political endeavour demonstrating that Francophonie and the French language, its values and the richness of its diversity represent a certain perception of the world. La Francophonie is a vibrant movement that promotes peace, solidarity, and the dialogue of civilizations”, observed Mr. Diouf.

The Festival will kick off at the Paris Book Fair, which gets underway on 17 March 2006. Francophone literature will be prominently showcased, with an 800-square-meter pavilion and a francophone village gathering all the foreign French-language publishers. Authors from France’s overseas departments and territories, from Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, the Americas and even the Pacific have been invited to attend the Fair and take part in French Language Week, from 20 to 26 March. The Week will begin with the International Francophonie Day, celebrated on 20 March, followed by the World Poetry and Story Tale Days on 21 and 22 March. These events, to be staged in Paris and organized in partnership with France’s Maison des Ecrivains (an association for French and foreign writers), will be the starting point of a “Tour de France” of several guest authors. Indeed, words are the guests of honour during the 207 days of the Festival. Each of the terms selected will be associated with a phrase or expression to be explored and used in various forms by the French press. The aim is not to highlight forgotten expressions, but rather, to discover the origin and meaning of commonly used words.

Various festivals will showcase Francophone filmmakers and movies, including the Cannes Film Festival, the International Film Festival of La Rochelle, the Women’s Film Festival of Créteil, the Biennale of Arab Cinema (organized by the Arab World Institute in Paris) and the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier, in the South of France. Choreographer Dominique Hervieu will create “choreographic postcards” for TV that explore the culture of several French-speaking countries; these will be broadcast on TV5. Choreographic, musical and theatrical events are also on the programme: the sounds of Francophonie will resonate at France’s annual “Fête de la Musique” (Road Music Day) on 21 June, while songs, storytelling and concerts will be part of the outdoors festivities organized in Paris for an entire weekend in early July. For the first time, the 6th Festival of African and Indian Ocean Dance will take place in France at the Théâtre de la Cité Internationale. Visual artists will also be part of the celebrations, with art installations in neighbourhoods of a dozen cities across France providing permanent representations of Francophonie’s expression countrywide. Exhibits featuring works presented in November 2005 at the African Photography Encounters of Bamako, Mali will also be on display in France during the “Francofffonies” Festival.

Many leading French companies are lending their support, by offering logistical assistance for example. Air France and SNCF, the country’s leading air and rail transport companies, will help transport festivalgoers and guest artists. Media groups such as France Télévisions and Radio France as well as various private sponsors are already actively involved in the Francophone adventure (Alcatel, Accor, EDF and Véolia, among others).

France’s highest governing bodies will also join in the celebrations, with a major symposium on the theme of “Francophonie and Globalisation” hosted by the Senate at the end of April. In June, the French National Assembly will organize a conference on the political theories of the poet, politician and former Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor. This event will be part of the Year of Senghor planned by the OIF. In September, commemorative events celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the First Congress of Black Writers and Artists will be held at UNESCO and the Sorbonne. Francophonie celebrations will culminate on 9 October with a ceremony hosted by France’s National Library, the BNF, to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Senghor. All in all, the Francophone Festival will strive to convey “the universal message that all cultures are equal in dignity,” as stated by French Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres.

Anne-Laure Bell

Website:
www.francofffonies.fr/home/accueil.php

Last updated: 16.03.2006