Alliance Française d’Omaha is bringing French film to KANEKO.

Three films, 9 weeks. Join Alliance Française d’Omaha for a film class that takes a look at three very different films. Each film will be viewed and discussed for three consecutive weeks. Instructors will have students view parts of the film, discuss them and learn French vocabulary at the same time. The films will be in French with English subtitles. See all three films or just pick two. The films shown will be:

Bande des Filles “Girlhood” – June 7, 14 & July 5
MicMacs à Tire Larigot “Non-Stop Shenanigans” – July 19, 26 & August 2nd
Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis “Welcome to the Sticks” – August 9, 30 & September 6

Requirements: The class will be for all levels of fluency, separate discussion groups will be held in French and English.

Instructors: Mary Clare Liescheski teaches French at Douglas County West High School. She received her B.A. in French from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in 2009 and her M.A. in Modern Languages & Literature from UNL in 2012 with a concentration in French. Mary Clare studied abroad for a semester in Besançon, France in 2008, and she also taught English for a year at the Université de Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée in 2011. Currently, Mary Clare lives in Benson and enjoys her two cats, cooking new foods, trying new restaurants, and exposing her high school students to French culture at Film Streams.

Sue White has recently relocated to Omaha from Massachusetts where she lived in the Boston area since 1983. She is a dual national — UK/USA. She has also lived in Belgium and Switzerland. Madame White has been a French teacher for 13 years. She is a board member of the Alliance Française d’Omaha and has been appointed the Education Coordinator.

About Alliance Française d’Omaha
Founded in Paris in 1883, The Alliance Française is the largest network of French language and cultural institutions in the world, with chapters in 138 countries, including 115 chapters in the United States. The Omaha chapter began in 1917 and this year we celebrate our centennial. Our mission is to share and celebrate the French language and the francophone world through cultural and educational programs. Learn More ->

About the Films

Bande des Filles “Girlhood”; 2014
Marième is a young girl living in the “banlieue” or projects of Paris. Just on the cusp of womanhood, she joins an all-girl gang and finds in herself a strength and fierceness she never knew was there. Her new friends lead her down a path of both freedom and increasingly risky behavior. This coming-of-age story is full of beautiful moments that exemplify what it means to be a girl, no matter where you live. Nothing is sugar-coated in this award-winning film which also explores race, gender, and class in modern-day France.

MicMacs à Tire Larigot “Non-Stop Shenanigans”; 2009
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the award-winning mastermind behind Amélie, MicMacs follows the life of Bazil, played by Dany Boon. Bazil has every reason to be angry at arms dealers. His father was accidentally killed by a landmine, and Bazil was randomly shot in the head while working at a video store in Paris. The injury has left him jobless and homeless, so Bazil joins up with a band of misfits who call themselves the “MicMacs”. Together, this rag-tag group works together to wreak havoc (and hilarity) and get revenge on a couple of crooked arms dealers. Dany Boon is famous for his physicality and his sense of humor, and this performance is one of his best! The film is a dark comedy that also explores the underbelly of life in Paris as well as the injustice that occurs in the world arms trade.

Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis “Welcome to the Sticks”; 2008
This film shattered box office records all across France. It features Kad Merad, Dany Boon, and a score of other household names that span generations of French cinema. The main character, Philippe, gets transferred for work to the dreaded north of France, and he is forced to confront cultural stereotypes, regional accents, a harsher climate, and an entire ensemble cast of hilarious personalities. Imagine an American version where a lifelong New Yorker is transferred to the deep south of the United States, and you can begin to fathom the antics and adventures in store!