Tournées French Film Festival opens at Elon

On Sunday, Feb. 19, Elon hosted students, faculty and staff from Elon and the surrounding community for a screening of “Qu’Allah bénisse la France! (May Allah Bless France!)” for the opening of the Tournées French Film Festival: Join the Résistance!

The community gathered in Global Commons 103 on Sunday afternoon to enjoy previews for upcoming Festival films and door prizes provided by Smitty’s Homemade Ice Cream. In her introduction to the film, Ariela Marcus-Sells, assistant professor of of religious studies, encouraged viewers to see how the film “offers a vision of the poor French suburbs that is simultaneously uncompromising and compassionate, a portrait in which violence, anger, and crime are neither excused nor romanticized, but rather contextualized for the roles they play in shaping and constraining the lives of the people who live there.” The protagonist’s consistent resistance to oppression leads him to live “a life triangulated by exceptional ability, extraordinary luck, and … a choice – the choice to love life and to see beauty in a world tinged with despair.” Marcus-Sells ended with a call for each of us to honor this story by choosing to love life, even when all seems hopeless.

Tournées Film Festival is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC), the French American Cultural Fund, Florence Gould Foundation and Highbrow Entertainment. Additional sponsors include the Elon College of Arts and Sciences; the Residential Campus Initiative; the Inclusive Community Council; the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society; French Club; the Global Neighborhood Association; The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life; Muslim Life at Elon; Jewish Studies; Peace and Conflict Studies; and the Departments of English, History and Geography, Philosophy, and World Languages and Cultures. Professor Patti Burns, lecturer of French in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, is organizing the Festival.  

“Grigris (Grigris),” Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by François Masuka, Isabella Cannon Global Education Center

“Loin des hommes (Far from Men),” Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by Ryan Johnson, Philosophy

“La cour de Babel (School of Babel),” Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by Jeff Carpenter, Education

“L’armée des ombres (Army of Shadows),” Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by Michael Carignan, History and Geography

“Parce que j’étais peintre (Because I was a painter),” Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. Introduced by Evan Gatti, Art and Art History