The Cultural Services of the French Consulate in Los Angeles

present:

FETE DE LA MUSIQUE	CALL FOR APPLICATION
VISUAL ARTS	LECTURES AND CONFERENCES
MUSIC	EDUCATION
PERFORMING ARTS	FILM
EVENTS	ONGOING
BOOKS	UPCOMING
GRANTS	LINKS

June 21, 2008 Make Music Pasadena a Fête de la Musique Event On June 21st, Downtown Pasadena will be filled with music for a free all-day, all-ages festival bringing an adventurous mix of hundreds of professional and amateur musicians who will perform in more than 30 unconventional performance spaces such as city buses, sidewalks, parks, courtyards, alleys and building lobbies but also most recognized cultural institutions such as City Hall and local museums. Expected to draw record crowds, Make Music Pasadena is the West coast premier of French international music phenomenon La Fête de la Musique, which takes place simultaneously in more than 300 cities, 108 countries and five continents around the world. Make Music Pasadena is supported by the French Cultural Services in Los Angeles and FLAX (France Los Angeles Exchange), presented by Levitt Pavilions Free Music across America and is produced by One Colorado, Old Pasadena Management District, Playhouse District Association, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau, Pasadena Arts Council and the Alliance Française de Pasadena. Info: www.makemusicpasadena.org

Holly Street Indie Rock Stage - Old Pasadena at 2:00pm Plastiscines Plastiscines know full well that mere words can never quench the eternal flame of a rock that burns in the heart. Their rock asks no permission before sweeping all before it. A tumultuous onslaught, by turns heedless, passionate, and disdainful, their music is shot through with the arrogance of youth in all its fiery bravura. Not forgetting an exhilarating sense of melody. Four faces of not-so-innocent angels, a look that knows it’s got what it takes, a detachment of high school girls who prefer electricity to lessons. Followed by rehearsals and concerts, the first recordings, the first record, (a promo-only vinyl), creating a buzz on the Parisian indie scene. The new hot French export. These four young women play French indie rock with a pop twist. Info: www.myspace.com/plastiscine

Emerging Artists Stage – One Colorado Courtyard at 4:00 pm Antipop Antipop (Christophe Hetier) is one of the 3 founding member of Telepopmusik. Telepopmusik’s first single was released in 1998 on the independent record label catalogue under the rather misleading name of « an ordinary life ». A few years later their first album « genetic world » received critical and public acclaim following nominations at French Grammies Les Victoires de la Musique Awards and the US Grammy Awards, and a successful collaboration with Janet Jackson. Released on a new label “Refuge Records”, Antipop has appeared on several silent movie mixes (cinemix) and dj set all around the world. Info: www.myspace.com/refugeantipop

Emerging Artists Stage – One Colorado Courtyard at 3:00 pm Adele Jacques, with special guest Christophe Hetier (Antipop) A formal modern dancer and actor in the South of France, where she grew up, she carried on with dance in London and Paris, while studying Art History at La Sorbonne. Working as an actor and a singer in her native Paris, Adele moved to the States six years ago, and has lit up many rooms along the way. Since then, she has collaborated with many diverse and accomplished musicians, both in New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, and has continued to create her own, unique brand of melodic, dream-pop lullabies. A concert as a reunion with special guest Christophe Hetier (Telepop Musik, Antipop) with whom she created the band “BEL-AIR”, which was a steady mainstay of the Parisian Music Scene in the late 90’s, right at the peak of the French Touch. Info: www.myspace.com/adelejacques

Music From Around the World Stage – Playhouse District at 2:00 pm Jessica Fichot “Chanteuse” and songwriter Jessica Fichot was born in the U.S., and raised in France by her French father and Chinese mother. This multi-cultural, multi-ethnic upbringing helped to establish her unique musical blend of traditional “French songs”, gypsy jazz, Chinese and Latin American folk music. A voice that many describe as being like Edith Piaf, but with a quirky, contemporary twist. Info: www.myspace.com/jessicafichot

Call for volunteers for Make Music Pasadena To ensure that Make Music Pasadena is successful, we need the help of a talented and dedicated team of volunteers. This is a great opportunity for high school students to log community service hours, for corporate employees to step out of the office and into the community, and for anyone interested in serving the community in a fun and exciting way. Volunteers will receive Make Music Pasadena gear, and food and beverages during their shifts. As stage managers and greeters, mobile information hubs and audience managers, our volunteers will be Make Music Pasadena ambassadors at this musical celebration. For more information on volunteering for Make Music Pasadena please call (626)793-8171 or visit http://www.makemusicpasadena.org

June 7 - July 19, 2008 Syllabery by Michel Alexis Michel Alexis treats his large-scale canvas like giant notebooks, registering moods, reactions and emotions that experienced during his day. He employs sweeping lines, made by incising built-up layers of media, to create an enticing and complex vocabulary, suggesting words written with an imaginary alphabet. These intimate, “writerly” gestures are set off by more pronounced areas of bold patterns, quick brushstrokes and quadrants of color. Jostling rectangles made of paper, burlap and other textured material, fold, wrinkle and crease as they abut one another, or shift to reveal fissures of substrate color. While not always in harmony, layers of gesso and oil paint are made rich by contrast-at once gritty and fluid, rough and polished, forceful and placid. Opening Reception on June 07, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm Location: Bergamot Station Arts Center 2525 Michigan Ave. G2 – Santa Monica, CA 90404 Info: www.michelalexis.com ; www.ruthbachofnergallery.com

June 21 – August 9, 2008 Exposed Cities by Guillaume Zuili The exhibition will include photographs of urban landscape, addressing the interaction between urbanism, nature, and humans. These photographs, like fossils, expose layers of various shapes and forms of buildings, and street culture “producing ghost like qualities, symbolic of lost moments and untold narratives.” Zuili’s talent as a photographer derives from his double exposure techniques he utilizes in his creative process, forcing the moment to become “significant and irrelevant, as well as public and private, very much like history itself.” Guillaume Zuili moved to Los Angeles in 2002 where he currently lives and works. Opening Reception on June 21, from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Location : Couturier Gallery 166 N. La Brea Ave. – Los Angeles, CA 90036 Info: www.couturiergallery.com

June 22 – October 26, 2008 SITE Santa Fe's Seventh International Biennial: Lucky Number Seven Lance Fung, SITE’s 2008 Biennial curator, is hard at work with the participating artists, the curatorial team and SITE Staff, as they prepare the opening of Lucky Number Seven. In January, SITE was host of a high energy, international, artistic think tank convened to prepare for the Seventh International Biennial. The participating artists came to town for a week-long intensive residency immersion experience in Santa Fe determined sites for each commissions, and returned home to formulate their ideas and proposals. In June, they all return to Santa Fe to build the works, some in Site’s building and some in off-site locations all over town. The Seventh International Biennial will receive French artists Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni. Since 2007, they have collaborated on several art projects while simultaneously developing their own practices. The two share an interest in community experiences, bad taste, and various forms of subculture. Marc-Olivier Wahler, director of the Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, will be there as an institutional partner. This event is supported by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Location: 1606 Paseo de Peralta - Santa Fe, NM 87501 Info: www.biennial.sitesantafe.org ; www.palaisdetokyo.com

Through August 31, 2008 The Beauty of Paris Regina started her career in Europe, where she was fortunate enough to learn from and work with the finest photographers, perfecting different techniques. Her passion is photography where all her past and current experiences manifest themselves. She established her own unique trademark style via a contemporary blend of traditionalism and photojournalism. The artist is currently exhibiting her most beautiful and most personal photographies of Paris at the Alliance Francaise. Location : Alliance Française de Los Angeles. 10390 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 120 - Los Angeles, CA 90025 Info: 310 652 0306 or culture@afdela.org ; www.afdela.org

Etant Donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art The Fund for Contemporary Art is dedicated to nurturing and supporting the outstanding programming of contemporary artists from France and the United States. It facilitates the discovery of emerging talent and firmly believes in the need to sustain interest in established artists whose work inspires younger generations. Etant Donnés is instrumental in creating a network of curators from both countries who work together and exchange ideas. Info: http://www.facecouncil.org/etantdonnes/contemporaryart.html

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy supports the professional development of American curators by offering travel and accommodation in France for up to one week for research in the field of contemporary art. Ultimately the grants are intended to highlight and further current artistic interactions between France and the United States, facilitating the discovery of new talents and reinforcing interest in established contemporary artists, as well as encouraging the exploration of France’s cultural resources.

Application deadline: September 30, 2008

Info: www.facecouncil.org/etantdonnes/edcaguidelinesinvitation.html

Should you wish to apply to this program, please contact the French Cultural Services in Los Angeles.

June 7, 2008 at 2:00 pm The French Piano Academy Live Baroque & Contemporary / Jazz Program Witness newcomers and veteran students perform in front of a live audience in one of the most coveted theatres of Santa Monica. Experience the emotion of the students’ presentation, the trophy distribution as well as an exclusive performance of the French Jazz Band “The French Caravan”. Location: The Morgan-Wixson Theatre 2627 Pico Blvd. - Santa Monica, CA 90405 Info: www.myspace.com/frenchcaravan ; www.frenchpiano.com

OJAI 62nd Music Festival June 7, 2008 at 8:00 pm Philippe Manoury’s En écho It’s a provocative musical experiment with two of today’s most innovative living composers in their Ojai debuts. Conductor David Robertson boldly positions Philippe Manoury’s landmark En écho for soprano and live electronics, highly regarded as one of the most sophisticated and compelling works in electronic music. It is matched with the west coast premiere of Michael Jarrell’s Cassandre, a “spoken opera” of acoustical and electronic instruments based on the tragic figure from Greek mythology. Cassandre will be performed by the enthralling German actress Barbara Sukowa in her first Ojai appearance. Philippe Manoury was born in Tulle, France in 1952. He began studying computer-assisted musical composition in 1975. En-Echo is Manoury’s piece for solo soprano and electronics. Location: Libbey Bowl 205 E Ojai Ave. – Ojai, CA 93023-2736 Info: www.ojaifestival.org June 7, 2008 at 11:00 pm Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time In celebration of the 100th birthday of Olivier Messiaen, violinist Frank Almond, cellist Andrew Shulman, clarinettist Todd Levy, and pianist Gloria Cheng perform Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, which he wrote while a prisoner in a German POW camp during World War II for himself and clarinetist Henri Akoka, a Moroccan Jew (though his religion was kept secret), violinist Jean Le Boulaire, and cellist Etienne Pasquier, who were imprisoned with Messiaen. Location: Ojai Art Center 113 S Montgomery St. - Ojai, CA 93023-2736 Info: www.ojaifestival.org

June 8, 2008 at 7:00 pm Organica: 100th birthday of Olivier Messiaen UCLA Live presents the return of award-winning German organist Christoph Bull in “organica”, a multimedia spectacular featuring a diverse array of artists including performance painter Norton Wisdom, videographer Benton-C Bainbridge, mezzo-soprano I-Chin Feinblatt, dancer Nehara Kalev and two up-andcoming guest organists, Chelsea Chen and Maxine Thévenot. Showcasing the versatility of the grand Royce Hall Skinner pipe organ, the eclectic program focuses on new original music and traditional French masterpieces by Marcel Dupré, Gabriel Fauré and Charles Gounod with an emphasis on modernist master Oliver Messiaen. In honor of the 100th anniversary of Messiaen, widely regarded as one of the most important organ composers of all time, Bull will open the program with “Apparition de L’Eglise Eternelle” (“Apparition of the Eternal Church”), one of Messiaen’s early organ pieces. The concert will conclude with Bull’s improvisation “Messiaen deconstructed,” a pastiche in which he modifies themes from Messiaen’s “L’Ascension”(“The Ascension”). This event is supported by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Location: Royce Hall UCLA Campus – Los Angeles, CA 90024 Info: www.uclalive.org

June 20, 2008 at 9:00 pm Tour de France This is the new project of Bernadette Colomine, French singer songwriter and long time Silverlake resident, who fronts the band. Tour De France recently opened for Rufus Wainwright at the Wiltern. The album "L'Aventure" has been played on KCRW. The lyrics have been receiving much praise from the francophone community. Bernadette's influences are, of course, the inevitable and great Serge Gainsbourg, but just as much the likes of Brigitte Fontaine, Bobby Lapointe, Nico and the incomparable Leonard Cohen who taught her that it's always beautiful when it comes from the heart. Location: The Bordello 901 E. 1st St. – Los Angeles, CA 90012 Info: www.myspace.com/bctourdefrance ; www.bordellobar.com

June 20, 2008 at 8:00 pm Seun Kuti "You gave me your mud and I made gold from it" This famous Baudelaire quote could be the Kuti family motto, employed by father and son alike. Their songs, filled with the corruption, ignorance, malady, sadness, pollution and the many others ill that ravage contemporary Africa, are veritable musical treasures, flamboyant, jubilatory songs that make you want to get up and dance. So are you ready to dance like crazy to the misfortunes of Africa? Just be sure to dance and listen to what Africa is telling us. Seun's songs, like those of his father, are these "flowers of evil" blossoming out of the shit, out of the foul smelling lagoons of Lagos, the most unbearable, yet most alive and most human of cities, the place that both Seun Kuti and his father would never dream of leaving. Location: Grand Performances 351 S. Olive - Los Angeles, CA 90071 Info: www.myspace.com/seunkuti ; www.grandperformances.org

June 21, 2008 at 8:00 pm Seun Kuti Location: El Rey Theatre 5515 Wilshire Blvd. - Los Angeles, CA 90036 Info: www.myspace.com/seunkuti ; www.theelrey.com

June 25, 2008 at 8:00 pm Yael Naim A singer/songwriter born to Jewish and Tunisian parents, Yael Naïm first hit the pop-music scene in 2001, but her debut was not what she had hoped for, and it wasn't until 2007 that her follow-up appeared. Born in Paris in 1978, Yael Naim first got a taste for pop music when she discovered the Beatles. Adding Aretha Franklin and Joni Mitchell to her list of influences, Yael Naïm soon found herself playing shows with Winton Marsalis' backing musicians in Tel Aviv (where she had moved at the age of four). Released in October of 2007, the album contained songs in French, English, and Hebrew, and included a surprising cover in Britney Spears' "Toxic." Critical acclaim and chart success followed and in 2008, Naim's song "New Soul" was used in a commercial for Apple's new MacBook Air computer. Location: El Rey Theatre 5515 Wilshire Blvd. - Los Angeles, CA 90036 Info: www.myspace.com/yaelnaim ; www.theelrey.com

The French Music Export Office USA on My Space: a platform of French produced artists!

www.myspace.com/frenchmusicusa is platform to discover the original sounds made in France (click on our friends’page and hear parts of their latest productions)! Find links to the French Music Export Office’s website where you can find many more goodies: bios in English, dates of the French artists’ concerts around the world, professional contact information for each artist, etc., www.myspace.com/frenchmusicusa goes hand in hand with our official website www.french-music.org

Support our artists abroad, post a comment on our page, and enjoy the diversity of the music produced in France!

www.myspace.com/frenchmusicusa

The French-American Jazz Exchange was created by Chamber Music America (CMA), the French Embassy and FACE to foster collaborative projects that unite French and American jazz artists. The program supports initiatives in both countries. In forming international relationships, artists are encouraged to think beyond traditional boundaries. Collaborations with musicians who champion world, electronic, contemporary classical, or other genres are welcome. Projects may include (but are not limited to) composition, touring, recording, and audience-development activities. Public performance is required, with the understanding that jazz speaks to diverse populations and experiencing music together bridges differences. Information: http://www.facecouncil.org/jazz/index.html

Should you apply to this program, please contact the French Cultural Services in Los Angeles.

June 6 & 7, 2008 at 7:30 pm Les Autres Le Lycée Français French Drama Club presents a series of scathing skits from French writer Jean-Claude Grumberg, directed by Mr. Leloup. Location: Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz 10361 W. Pico Blvd. - Los Angeles, CA 90064 Info: www.theatreraymondkabbaz.com

June 7, 12, 19, 25 & 28 at 7:30 pm June 15 & 22 at 2:00 pm La Rondine by Giacomo Puccini If you love La Traviata, you'll love La Rondine Can a worldly Parisian courtesan find lasting love in the arms of a naive young man from the provinces? Featuring the heart-melting "Doretta's Dream Song" (heard in the film A Room with a View), La Rondine is a little-known treasure-trove that includes some of Puccini's most rhapsodic music. Marta Domingo directs the captivating production of this Puccini jewel. Location: 135 North Grand Ave. - Los Angeles, CA 90012 Info: www.laopera.com

FUSED: French U.S. Exchange in Dance FUSED brings together the French and American dance communities by fostering dialogue and exchange, consolidating professional relationships, and providing opportunities for choreographic innovation. Info: http://www.facecouncil.org/fused/index.html

Should you apply to this program, please contact the French Cultural Services in Los Angeles.

June 7 & 8, 2008 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm Amitié-Expo 2008 Los Angeles Accueil will have its annual “International Art Show”, for the benefit of "Doctors Whitout Borders”. Art, drawing, music, pastries… a very enjoyable event. Location: 609 North Beverly Dr. - Beverly Hills , CA 90210 Info:

June 8, 2008 from 11:30 am The 28th Annual Picnic des Chefs The event will return to Griffith Park this year, which is one of the largest urban parks in the US, covering over 4200 acres. Located in the middle of the city, it will allow more people than ever to enjoy the best of Los Angeles' French regional cooking. A wonderful day for the whole family under the trees surrounded by mountains and nature.The party will start at 11:30 am with apéritifs and lunch followed by a raffle and silent auction. Games (petanque, soccer, volleyball). French DJ, life band and dancing. Location: Griffith Park 4730 Crystal Springs Dr. - Los Angeles, CA 90027 Info: www.clubculinaire.org

Kick The Animal Out by Véronique Ovaldé An imaginative girl constructs a tale of incestuous obsession, teenage love, and willful desertion to explain her mother’s disappearance. Fifteen-year-old Rose is trying to make sense of her world. Her mother — a beautiful woman with signature stiletto heels, bright clothes, and the synthetic gleam of a blond wig — has vanished, and Rose is convinced that she must be in danger. Unable to cope with the possibility of having been abandoned, Rose uses her vivid imagination to construct her own explanation for her mother’s sudden disappearance. Her father suspiciously carries on with his life, in no hurry to contact the police. Coupled with Rose’s newfound knowledge that he is not actually the ringleader of a circus, she begins to doubt that he is even her real father. As Rose pieces together snippets of remembered conversations and the half-truths she is fed by adults, she creates her own romantic narrative about the disappearance — one that is as difficult to accept as the truth. Info: Translated by Adriana Hunter / Edited by Portobello Books Ltd, 2008 ISBN-13: 978-1846271410

Eldorado by François Gaudé A moving fable about the power of luck, persistence and hope grounded in the often tragic reality of modern-day immigration. Captain Salvatore Piracci has sailed for twenty years along the Italian Coast, intercepting boats with clandestine North African immigrants who risk everything in hopes of reaching the continent of their dreams: the new Eldorado. But when a woman haunted by her son's death during an illegal crossing visits Piracci, she forces him to question the validity of his border-patrolling mission. Meanwhile, two brothers struggle against the odds to leave Africa for Europe, only to be separated when the elder brother's past returns to stop him from reaching the promised land. At a time when debates over immigration and national identity dominate the news headlines in Europe and the U.S., best-selling French author Laurent Gaudé offers a unique portrait of the individuals who compromise their illusions and endanger their lives in search of a better existence. Info: Edited by MacAdam/Cage, 2008 ISBN-13: 978-1596922976

For more information on French books and translations, visit: www.frenchbooknews.com, www.frenchculture.org/books/index.html & http://cifdi.francophonie.org/Repert/LittFrancoph.cfm

French Voices

The French version of World Voices! To make contemporary French voices available to American readers through translation - books to be read and debated by American readers eager to explore new forms and ideas.

What is the objective of this program?

To ensure that 30 contemporary French books are translated in the United States by the end of 2008. In 2006, one in three books that received grants had no American editor ; they found one thanks to the French Voices grant and through our efforts.

Who is eligible?

If you are a literary agent, editor, or translator, and you already have a translated sample of a French book - but you do not necessarily have a contract with an American publisher -, fill in the application form and send it back to us.

What is to be gained by participating?

To help offset the financial risks associated with distributing translated texts in the American marketplace, the publisher of each selected project will receive $6,000. If a project without an American publisher is selected, we will do our best to support it by identifying and making overtures to a suitable partner.

Who chooses the books?

A committee of French and American professionals meets several times a year to read and discuss the works submitted for consideration. The committee is headed by a representative from the Book Office of the French Embassy’s Cultural Services

Selection criteria:

- It must be a French book published no earlier than 2000

- The quality of the French book

- The quality of the translation

- Innovative content and literary forms

- Possible reception in the American bookmarket (i.e., would an American reader buy this book in translation).

Application for support may be submitted by publishers, agents, or translators, until March 30th, 2008, after which the Committee will make its selection of the projects to be supported in 2008. Please note that once grants are awarded, projects must have both contracts (French publisher/American publisher and American publisher/Translator) signed by October, 12th 2008 in order to receive payment.

Info: www.frenchbooknews.com/grantsamericanpublishers.php

The Hemingway Grant Program

Financial assistance for American publishers is available through the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States. It assists projects, which are not already supported by the Centre National du Livre (CNL), and allows publishers to be supported directly through funds available in the US at the Book Office of the French Embassy. The grant awarded for each work varies from $1,000 to $6,000.

The application should be addressed to the literary attaché at the Book Office of the Cultural Services either by mid-March of each year for the first session, or by mid-September, for the second session. It supports books that have not yet been published. Please include the following documents in order to constitute a complete application.

Info: www.frenchbooknews.com/grantsamericanpublishers.php

European Grants

Info: http://www.eurunion.org/policyareas/Ed&RsrchProgsBklt2007.pdf

International Residence at Couvent des Recollets

The City of Paris and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs offer foreign artists a resident's programme at the Recollets International Accommodation and Exchange Centre, a prestigious building inaugurated in 2003, on the banks of Saint Martin Canal, in the heart of Paris, to foreign artists specialized in any discipline.
This program is targeted to confirmed writers and artists who will be selected by a board of examiners on the basis of a project they would like to develop in Paris during their stay. This project can be carried out at the invitation of a Paris art institution within the framework of a programme of cultural cooperation or as a personal artistic research approach.
The winners are hosted in one of the 6 studios, for a 3 months period. At the end of their stay, the artists must write a report on their stay.

Profile of applicants
- At least 5 year professional experience in visual arts, performing arts or literature.
- Justified of a participation in international festivals of performing arts (theatre, dance) a participation in important international artistic events ( biennial contemporary art festivals, exhibitions in international museums), or publication of scripts.

Application documents

Deadline for applications: June 15, 2008.
Meeting of the commission: October 2008.
Info: www.international-recollets-paris.org

June 18, 2008 at 3:00 pm

A Visit to the Musée du Quai Branly

Paris's newest museum, the Musée du Quai Branly (MQB), has inspired lively debates about the presentation of non-Western art in museums. Sally Price, Duane A. and Virginia S. Dittman Professor of Anthropology and American Studies, the College of William and Mary, explores ways in which exhibitions at the MQB reflect the political positions toward the display of art in 21st-century France.

Location: GRI Lecture Hall at the Getty Center

1200 Getty Center Dr. - Los Angeles, CA 90049

Info: www.getty.edu

June 19, 2008 at 6:30 pm

French Art at the Huntington Series

Shelley M. Bennett, senior research associate at The Huntington, will present the fourth and final lecture in the French art series, discussing new research on the history of the institution founded by Henry and Arabella Huntington and on the formation of their world-class collections of British paintings and French art.
This lecture series celebrates the publication of the new catalog, French Art of the 18th Century at The Huntington, edited by Bennett and Carolyn Sargentson.

Location: Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Rd. - San Marino, CA 91108

Info: www.huntington.org

June 18-22, 2008

Catastrophe and Conversion: Political Thinking for the New Millennium

This conference will address many issues of current concern in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. The idea that we live in a world ever more susceptible to the ravages of man-made catastrophes is linked with the religious notion of conversion as a metaphor for the changes in attitude and outlook that will be required in order to survive in increasingly uncertain times. In a post-9/11 world, the static logic of mutually assured destruction has been replaced by a dynamic, asymmetrical threat emerging from the shadows. At any moment a catastrophe could occur, without warning and without redress. Our ability to prepare for and cope with this new threat is one of the great political and social challenges of the twenty-first century. This conference will thus deal with ways of understanding the root causes of violence, with particular emphasis on the anthropological and sociological dimensions of conflict, and on the theories of René Girard. Prior Registration Required for Attendance at All Events.

Keynotes: René Girard (Académie Française / Stanford), Jean-Pierre Dupuy (Stanford / Ecole Polytechnique), Jack Miles (UC Irvine / Pulitzer Prize for God: A Biography), W. J. T. Mitchell (Chicago / Editor-in-Chief, Critical Inquiry), Gianni Vattimo (Turin / Member of the European Parliament, 1999-2004)

Location: University of California, Riverside

900 University Ave. - Riverside, CA 92521

Info: www.ideasandsociety.ucr.edu

Universciné

In collaboration with the company "Le meilleur du cinéma français", the French Cultural Services is offering an Internet portal that enables Universities and Cultural Centers to access films online and to organize public screenings more easily throughout the U.S. More than 60 feature-length independent films are available in the U.S.,most of which figured among the most prominent French independent films inthe last few years.

Info: http://www.frenchculture.org/spip.php?article436&tout=ok

Students French Podcasts

The students of the Lycée International de Los Angeles have recorded podcasts about cultural, historic, scientific or music events in French. A great opportunity for people who want to learn French.

Can be listened http://blog.lilaschool.com/

The French-American Fund for University Partnerships is a program managed by FACE, a U.S. nonprofit organization which works in cooperation with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. The Fund's first objective is the creation of innovative partnerships between institutions of Higher Learning in France and the United States to foster joint and shared graduate diplomas. Long-term agreements between French and US Graduate Schools are encouraged to jointly develop new shared courses and research in both Hard Sciences and the Humanities. The Fund's second objective is to give French and American graduate students the opportunity to explore cross-cultural, interdisciplinary approaches in their training and/or research, thereby acquiring globally-minded professional competencies. The long-term goal is to strengthen ties between France and the United States through these structured partnerships. Info: www.facecouncil.org/education

The French Heritage Language Program was created in 2005 by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and received additional support from the Alfred & Jane Ross Foundation. It is designed to support and enrich the teaching and learning of French language, literature, and culture for students of Francophone background enrolled in New York City public schools. The primary objectives of the program are to help these students develop proficiency in French (reading comprehension, writing, oral expression and other literacy skills), and keep a connection to their respective cultures and identities, while increasing their opportunities for success in their new environment. Through university partnerships, this project also hopes to contribute to scholarly research in the field of heritage language learning. As a pilot program, it is a place for pedagogical and methodological exploration, and a way to build new partnerships. We seek to develop curriculum models that can be replicated and adapted in other cities in the United States, in France as well as in other countries. The French Heritage Language Program works closely with the Internationals Network for Public Schools, which includes nine high schools for new immigrants in New York City, all working at the development of models for global education. The French Heritage Language Program currently serves 75 students in five different Internationals high schools. Info: www.facecouncil.org/education

Should you apply to one of these programs, please contact the French Cultural Services in Los Angeles.

For information on French films and screenings, please register for free to frenchfilminla@consulfrance-losangeles.org (newsletters, invitations, etc...).

“Masterpiece Replayed: Monet, Matisse and More” at the Phoenix Art Museum

www.phxart.org

“Please Be Seated”, a Video Installation by Nicole Cohen at The J. Paul Getty Museum, South Pavillon

www.getty.edu

“Glow” Nuit Blanche at Santa Monica” on July 19th, 2008 from 7:00 pm to 7:00am

www.glowsantamonica.org

“Rubicon International Theatre Festival”

http://s214033342.onlinehome.us

“Rachid Taha” at Grand Performances on July 12, 2008

www.grandperformances.org ; www.rachidtaha.com

“Feist at the Hollywood Bowl on July 20, 2008”

www.hollywoodbowl.com ; www.myspace.com/feist

“Santa Barbara French Festival”

www.frenchfestival.com

“Bastille Day”

• Alliance Française de Los Angeles: www.afdela.com
• Alliance Française de Pasadena: www.afdepasadena.org
• Alliance Française d’Albuquerque: www.afabq.com
• Alliance Française de Denver: www.afdenver.org
• Alliance Française de Phoenix: www.afphx.org
• Alliance Française de la Riviera Californienne: www.aforange.org
• Alliance Française de San Diego: www.afsandiego.org
• Alliance Française de Tucson: http://www.afusa.org/af/tucson/
• Maison de la France: www.franceguide.com
• Théâtre Raymond Kabbaz: http://theatreraymondkabbaz.com
• USC Francophone Resource Center: USC Francophone Center
• UCLA Department for French and Francophone Studies: www.french.ucla.edu
• The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States: www.frenchculture.org
• French American Cultural Exchange: www.facecouncil.org