The Center for French and Francophone Studies (CFFS)

Featured Films
[Download the Tournées 2012 French Film Festival Flyer]

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Le Havre
Monday, September 3, 7 pm

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A wonderful celebration of France’s national motto (liberty, equality, fraternity), Le Havre centers around Marcel Marx, a once-famous Parisian writer now making his living shining shoes. Marcel divides his time between drinking and caring for his ill wife, Arletty. But he soon serves a much nobler purpose when he comes to the aid of Idrissa, a young illegal immigrant from Gabon who is trying to join his family in England. Aided by his neighbors, Marcel keeps Idrissa safe from the clutches of the detective who comes looking for him.
Le Havre (2011). Dir. Aki Kaurismäki. 93 min.

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Mysteries of Lisbon
Monday, September 10, 6 pm

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This majestic, magisterial film from Chilean-born Raúl Ruiz stretches across three different generations and multiple countries. What begins as the story of a young orphan boy’s quest to discover his true origins expands to include the reminiscences of legions. Ruiz’s multilayered, endlessly inventive film nimbly shifts from one perspective to the next as past and present melt into one fluid time.
Les Mystères de Lisbonne (2010). Dir. Raúl Ruiz. 257 min.

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Film Socialism
Monday, September 17, 7 pm

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Jean-Luc Godard’s profound cine-essay tackles the history of Europe and the intractable conflicts around the world. In the first half, passengers aboard a Mediterranean cruise ship reflect on the horrors of Europe’s past and its uncertain future. In its second half, Godard zooms in on rural gas station owners in the midst of a marital crisis. Provocative juxtapositions of violence with pleasure-seeking, of sound with image, of spoken language with translation inventively complicate meaning and interpretation.
Film Socialisme (2010). Dir. Jean-Luc Godard. 101 min.

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Tomboy
Monday, September 24, 7 pm

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A sensitive portrait of childhood, Tomboy astutely explores the freedom of being untethered to the rule-bound world of gender codes. Tomboy Laure’s relocation with her family to the suburbs allows her to reinvent herself as Michaël, just one of the boys. Laure/Michaël soon attracts the attention of Lisa, whose feelings she/he reciprocates. As much as Laure/Michaël revels in being a boy, she/he still lives in fear of being found out.
Tomboy (2011). Dir. Céline Sciamma. 82 min.

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Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Monday, October 1, 7 pm

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Werner Herzog’s breathtaking documentary gives viewers an unprecedented look at the prehistoric – and, according to Herzog, “proto-cinematic” – drawings in the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave in the south of France. First discovered in 1994, the 30,000-year-old drawings of lions, mammoths, and others scenes are the earliest known human art. No one is a better guide for this fascinating expedition than Herzog himself, who explores the wonder that these images of the past instill in us, all the while cautioning us to be mindful of the future.
La Grotte des rêves perdus (2011). Dir. Werner Herzog. 90 min.

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Presented in collaboration with the Department of Romance Studies, the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image and the Screen Society, and the Program in the Study of Sexualities at Duke. The Tournées Festival was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the French Ministry of Culture (CNC), The Florence Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation, and highbrow entertainment. www.facecouncil.org