Culturetheque Blog Feed

Gainsbourg vs Bowie

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:38:56 +0000

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Mr. Ziggy and Monsieur Chou!…dig out your glam-rock glitter lycra and pair it with une chemise bien taillée, we are heading in disguise to the land of the eccentric! Follow this week’s comic strip with the superheroes of our time…

Free Ebooks in Epub format

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:31:00 +0000

You can download them from the BNF's online library, Gallica, by clicking on this link.

The story of fashion week

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:02:28 +0000

In 1943, the first fashion week took place in New-York.
Until 1943, fashion was dictated from Paris and its industry followed the trends of the French capital.
In Europe, the Second World War was at its heights and the fashion industry and the media like Vogue could not go to Paris. It was in this context that a famous name in fashion, Eleanor Lambert, had the idea to organize an event in NY called « fashion week » to define the new trends and to present them to American designers.
Gradually, from one year to the next, more « fashion weeks » appeared on the scene : London in 1961 , Madrid in 1963, Hong Kong in 1968. Paris had its fashion week in 1973.
Nowdays, fashion week is celebrated everywhere, however, it is largely dominated by the « four big ones » : London is known for its edgy design, Paris famous for its « couture » , Milan, for elegance and NY is the biggest of them all for this week.

Kinetica Art Fair

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:19:20 +0000

Watch screenings of holographic art by audiovisual artists on Sunday 12th February.
Londoners, for full details on the Kinetica Art Fair visit their website.

Maison française d'Oxford: listen to lectures for free.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:59:51 +0000

Perhaps you noticed some recordings on Culturethèque from the “Maison Française d'Oxford”. A moustachioed philosopher talking about the human language or a chef and a chemist arguing about eggs in a glass of acid may already have caught your attention!

La Flame de la Manche

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:21:43 +0000

The English say: ‘you wear your heart on your sleeve.’
The French say: you raise your sleeve to protest.”
They collect their placards, and yell, "prenez vos désirs pour des réalités!”

Among both the British and the French, we see this passion burning…quite literally, in many cases.

Kaas sings Piaf at the Royal Albert Hall

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:18:07 +0000

Come to the Royal Albert Hall, on 5th November 2012 to attend “Kaas sings Piaf”. A Patricia Kaas show arranged by Golden Globe nominated composer Abel Korzeniowsk.

Patricia Kaas will be opening a world tour at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, London on Monday 5th November 2012. The tour entitled ‘Kaas Chante Piaf’ meaning ‘Kaas Sings Piaf’ will focus on 21 of the great Edith Piaf’s iconic songs, arranged by Abel Korzeniowski and commemorate 50 years since the death of Piaf.

With innovative stage design, this unique show aims to be above all contemporary and urban.
It will include a video installation with lighting that is different from anything on the stage today.
Unedited, extraordinary, never seen images of Piaf will be the centerpiece of this unique event.

Thierry Lhermitte on 17th February

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:26:38 +0000

French actor Thierry Lhermitte, will visit the Taylorian Institute on 17th February, at 5.30 pm.
Since the late seventies, he has acted in famous comedy films, such as Les Bronzés (dir. Patrice Leconte), Le Père Noël est une Ordure (with his mates from the Splendid comedy troupe).

Truffaut's birthday?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:33:26 +0000

Isn't it better if you think about your mother, not on mother's day, but say, on an arbitrary day, say, today, and post her a little letter, wouldn't she appreciate it more than if you sent her a letter on mother's day?

I'm trying to draw a parallel with Truffaut's birthday. Sure, Google remembered. Sure, none of the Culturethèque bloggers did. So I'm reporting on a little complaint we received.

But, you see, it's always Truffaut day on Culturethèque.

Source documents, overleaf.

300 years of Rousseau: the Philosopher of the Enlightenment

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:45:34 +0000

Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712, renowned for his famous work called ‘The Social Contract’. Rousseau died in 1778 and in 1794 his remains were taken to the Panthéon in Paris by French revolutionaries.

Sartre online

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:29:13 +0000

I'll just go straight ahead and tell you what I found. The star content is the BBC documentary.

Read on for my links.

Les Autres Gens

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:46:53 +0000

Rosalie Blum is a very gentle little graphic novel, and, thanks to my job on Culturethèque, and our renewal of the graphic novel section, discovered that the author of Rosalie Blum, Camille Jourdy, contributed to this graphic novel collective.

Shakespeare vs. Molière

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:25:23 +0000

In the boxing ring this week: Shakespeare vs. Molière
Grab your moleskine notebooks and jump inside the time machine - c'est parti!

Last Days to wish you a 2012 Happy New Year!

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:43:18 +0000

Wishing you all the best for the New Year!

Success, happiness and new cultural discoveries and re-discoveries on our digital platform.

Culturethèque.

Academic Earth: another reason to love the internet.

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:05:01 +0000

Did you apply to Yale, get in, but then realise the course fees were $40 000/ year above your budget? Even if you didn't, you may be interested to hear about Academic Earth., a kind of online lecture hall, where you can attend any lecture series at any time.

Here's a link to a Yale course on the History of France since 1871.

Their wikipedia page.

Fixing clocks in tunnels

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:59:17 +0000

The Parisian underground has sewers, dead people, a metro, and, being Parisian, artists. I read about this when I was at school in the early 2000s in Paris. A friend sent me an article from Wired magazine on the topic, though I should add that this is by no means "new."

Adieu Camarades!

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:46:04 +0000

A friend worked on a documentary for Arte, about how people experienced the end of Communist rule.
It is free, online, on the arte website.

Here is the link to the first episode of six, of Adieu Camarades (in French, for the moment).

Les Guignols de l'Info

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:52:12 +0000

I watched a lot of bad TV when I was at school. I'd watch sitcoms about pre-teens, and my dad would catch me and say, oh that looks really challenging. But then at 19h30 he would reclaim the television set to watch Les Guignols de l'Info, France's version of Spitting Image. There are a lot of bad things on French TV, but the brief window when all of France has access to the paying Canal + channel supplies among the best shows.
Two favourites: Les Guignols de l'Info, and Zapping, a medley of TV clips cut in a way to highlight television's idiocy. The only downside of watching these shows on the Canal+ website is you have to sit through an advert before every show.

Film review : A Trick of the Light

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:14:40 +0000

La Nuit Americaine [Francois Truffaut, 1973]

Not only did this film-within-a-film almost certainly influence Irma Vep (see Intermission), but it could well be Truffaut’s most ingenious work…
La Nuit Americaine refers to the cinematographic trick of simultaneously under-exposing and avoiding sky so that nighttime scenes can be shot during the day. Hence the film’s US and UK distribution title, Day for Night.

Here we have a film review reposted from Paul Scott's blog.

Look smart, watch French films with the second edition of my French films festival!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:25:18 +0000

Last year, we blogged about this online exclusive event organized by Unifrance and Allociné (see here).
For those who didn't read the post, let's explain briefly what My French Films Festival is.

Online airwaves for French expats but not only!

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:47:21 +0000

Have you heard of French Radio London (FRL)?
The slogan speaks for itself: “The French Voice in London”.
FRL is known as the French expats' radio but fortunately it is also aimed at anyone with an interest in French culture.
It covers various subjects from daily news to sports, to art, health and music.

Boris Vian at the BNF

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:04:45 +0000

Boris Vian enjoyed little recognition in his lifetime (1920-1959). He was discovered posthumously when Jean-Jacques Pauvert republished « L’Écume des jours » in 1963. This forever young fascinating man, who imagined a new language and created a rich and diverse imaginary world, was made a legend. Jazz, theater plays, prose, poetry, translations, songs, paintings... The exhibition presents the various facets of Boris Vian’s work to highlight its unity and richness.

Blogs about French films

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:11:40 +0000

Four blogs that talk about French films (among others):
Left-field cinema: "not film criticism, it's film recommendation and analysis"
Cellophane tears: from a film fan who is "trying to watch at least two films a week "
World Cinema: pretty thorough in the number of films it touches on, but not a lot of depth.
Criterion: does a lot of analysis. It's not so much a blog, as a shop, but this essay by good ol' Slavoj is entertaining.

Bref

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:57:11 +0000

Launched 8 years ago, the show Le Grand Journal gradually became the flagship on Canal +, especially among 18 to 35 year olds.

Oxford's e-resources: The Ashmolean

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:31:43 +0000

Oxford gets money for interesting stuff. There are probably reasons why the town seems to have a bigger interesting-stuff budget than say, Wittersham, but I'm not going to go into them.

This is the first in a series of blogposts on how that money is put to use.

The Ashmolean museum was recently refurbished (and when they were rebuilding, some sneaky undergrads would break in and climb up onto the roof, for one of the best night views around).

The Ashmolean has updated their website too, with lots of works viewable online. Here's something French. Click on the image for higher resolution.

Literal Translations of French Idioms and Phrases

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 17:55:20 +0100

I make white cabbage when it comes to idiomatic expressions. As a binational, I frequently sound like I'm from nowhere, and I have other cats to whip than to go around memorising ridiculous phrases, then dig into my head trying to remember them.

I don't have the memory of an elephant, but I do have wikipedia links to French idioms with their meaning and direct translation, or a more complete list with their equivalents in English.

Ten French Canadian Short Films

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 11:18:25 +0000

TV5 is currently lending out ten shorts for free. You need to sign up to the website, but I just did that, and it is no hassle. You then borrow the films for forty-eight hours.

Tailored Texts

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:26:20 +0000

Nicolas (the author of this post) sent me a link to this fledgling website, Tailored Texts.

The idea is this: foreign language public domain texts are uploaded and commented on by the Tailored Texts community - user-generated lit crit, essentially, with handy translations. It is still quite small - the most discussed work is Voltaire's Candide with 2329 entries, that means 2329 little annotations to the text, and one user has submitted 2300 - but it looks like the beginning of something that could revolutionise literary commentary and the study of literary texts. The lay-out is not super enticing, but it uses wikis so it is maleable and suits its purpose.

Camille is playing at the Hackney Empire tonight

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:11:26 +0000

Songs from Camille's first two albums were among my University staple listening tracks, back in the day when I had this iPod. I had just left Paris, so this song was relevant. Now that I have an office job (sort of), I find the line in this song very apt: "C'est quand même triste d'être vissée sur sa chaise à mon âge, comme une vieille anglaise."
Anyhow, she has brought out a new album, and tonight she's playing in London at the Hackney Empire.
This is Camille's website, this is a six minute video of the time I interviewed her, and here is her Culturethèque page.

French Philosophers in Jest

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:00:39 +0000

Are you a little bit lazy, yet interested in having a quick recap on what French philosophers philosophise about? Today, I came across this website, and picked out the pages on Frenchies Camus, Sartre, Rousseau and
Foucault. My main reaction to most of the entries was "pfff - ha - pfff."

The Horseman on the Roof on Youtube

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:05:53 +0000

I had a hard time finding any Giono texts on the internet. I did, however, find the whole lit flick, The Horseman On the Roof, an adaptation of Giono's Le Hussard sur le Toit, in French and subtitled on Youtube.
Imdb gives it 5.5. Click on the title of this blogpost to find the embedded videos.

Eight minutes of Harpsichord

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:56:52 +0000

For your listening pleasure, on the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's online library, Gallica, listen to the Cinquième Pièce de clavecin en concert, Jean-Philippe Rameau. I prefer the A-side.
For more links like this, have a look at this very early blogpost. Give me points for consistency, at least.

Message à Caractère Informatif

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:15:36 +0100

Dubbing is an obsession in France. Movies, TV series, documentaries... everything has to be dubbed!

Even if those very addictive American TV series have forced many of us to revert to the original version (I learned English thanks to «Lost»), dubbing remains the standard in France.

Some people have used this to create - what we could call "détournement" in French - dubbing which replaces the words with a humorous alternative dialogue.

My favourites are those made by the guys of «Message à caractère informatif» who had fun dubbing old companies' videos of the 70s. Click on the title of this blogpost to watch them.

Deezer and Spotify

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:17:26 +0100

I used to be able to rely on Deezer. I two-timed for a while, with Spotify. I would put all my favourite tracks into their little search boxes and add them to my playlists. It's just not the same anymore. They've changed; they're not so generous, they want my unwavering loyalty, they want money. They don't want me as I am, and I don't want them. I've uninstalled Spotify's stupid program, and deleted my account on Deezer. A nice, clean break. In short, it's over.

I've started looking around for other options. It's the 21st century; I looked online. Thank the past for print journalism, because Le Point has told me where to go to fill the vacuum: Grooveshark, Musicme, radionomy and Jamendo. I'll tell you how it goes with each of them once I've tried them out.

NB. Don't try Beezik or Jiwa, they doesn't do long-distance.

Honk to Stop Executions

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:06:30 +0100

There has been a number of films dealing with the death penalty. Le pull-over rouge, based on the book of the same name, tells the story of Christian Ranucci, among the very last people to be executed in France, in July 1976. The book helped to promote the abolition of the death penalty and to shift public opinion in its favour. The author of the book, Gilles Perrault, said at the time “I defy anyone to be convinced of Ranucci's guilt after reading my book”. The death penalty was finally abolished in October 1981, thirty years ago.

All’s fair in love and the post-it war

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:29:41 +0100

It’s the marmite of the French business world: some walk into the office and cry ‘Mais c’est moche!’ ('But it's ugly!') at the sight of giant Post-it murals on their windows, whilst others have seized the opportunity to bring extra publicity to their company. In any case, unused Post-its have been hard to come by in the French working world for a good few months now.

French cooking blogs

Tue, 31 May 2011 18:21:43 +0100

I am writing this blog post despite two major obstacles. Firstly, Culturethèque has loads and loads of cookbooks, and frankly, there is no need to go any further. Secondly, my own diet is made of prepared soups, Galaxy chocolate, six-minute cakes and gluten-free crisp bread. I once managed to make cement out of mushrooms (boil, blend, et voilà), and when I used to cook, most things went from the frying pan and directly into the bin.

So it is with immense generosity that I have spent some time looking for French food blogs, and will proceed to comment and link below. (click on the title of the blog post for a comprehensive list).

Rabelais online: reading the texts in medieval French

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:57:00 +0100

Simon McBurney is coming to the French Institute to talk about the bawdy and hilarious medieval French writer.
I'm going to do a few blogposts to help you find Rabelais online. This one is if you want to read the original texts.

Pantagruel, Le Tiers Livre, Le Quart Livre and a bunch of other works (including Gargantua) in their entirety in medieval French on Wikisource.

This incredible website, set up by the University of Virginia, has uploaded .tiffs of editions of Rabelais from the 1540's and 1550's. They's got Panta, Gargs and the 3rd,4th and 5th books.

There's also this website if you want to read Gargantua but you hate Wikisource (why would you hate Wikisource?), and this one for Pantagruel.

Rabelais online: The texts in English

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:28:03 +0100

Rabelais' top 5 works are all on Wikisource in translation. The same translation can be found on Gutenberg - the advantage there is that you can pick your format and read illustrated texts, but the low point is that only Pantagruel and Gargantua have been uploaded.

Rabelais online: multimedia.

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:13:11 +0100

It turns out that dying about five hundred years ago does not exclude being all over the internet. We could say, "Yo, François, you're on Librivox, Dailymotion and Youtube," and he'd probably say, "what? that's awesome, I love user-generated content."
Below are links to a film, some podcast, an audiobook, a conference, all of which you can get online for free.

A poem a day on France Culture.

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 11:36:24 +0000

France Culture podcasts are at times experimental, often extravagantly well-made, but they are very rarely short.
Poème du jour is an exception.

Poème du jour always includes one or two French poems, or foreign poems in translation, and they always ask a Comédie-Française actor to do the reading. They are never more than three minutes long, so remember to take your mp3 player with you next time you need to "just go and get something" or when you'll "be down in a minute, hang on."

Signs of Life: French Art at Frieze Art Fair

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:13:11 +0100

This weekend (October 13-16, 2011), French artists Pierre Huyghe and Laure Prouvost will be featured at Frieze Art Fair in Regent’s Park, London. Both artists are among seven others commissioned this year by curator Sarah McCrory to create works specifically for and during the Fair.

Geeks, artists, aliens: Laloux and Topor on youtube.

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 18:44:19 +0100

"René Laloux (1929 – 2004) was a French animator and film director," writes Wikipedia. His career involved working in advertising, working in psychiatric institutions, and working on films. You can find his three feature length animations on Youtube (click on the title of this blogpost). But who is the enigmatic Topor, mentioned in the title of this post?
Below is a picture of a Planète Sauvage film night at my house.

1981-2011 : 30 years ago, the death penalty was abolished in France.

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:28:32 +0100

Capital punishment was practiced in France from the middle ages until 1977. The only legal execution method was the guillotine. The last person to be executed was Hamida Djandoubi who was executed in September 1977. The death penalty was abolished by law in on 9th October 1981, under President Mitterrand's presidency.

Two very different coming-of-age films

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 10:56:59 +0100

Should the need to look cultured or worldly arise, anyone – francophile, cinephile, nailphile, whoever – can throw in a reference to Godard, Truffaut or even Klapisch with enough confidence to suggest they know what they're talking about. Get to talking about Pinoteau or Sattouf, though, and you might be met with a few blank looks.

Read ebooks online. Read them here, and there, and also here and there.

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:24:33 +0000

I like the feel of paper. I'm no glue-sniffer but I'll always appreciate the smell of a new binding. Not that I'm against musty books. I love musty books. But I remember the days, not so long ago, when at quarter to three in the morning, I would get home, realise I had an essay to hand in within the next half day and knuckle down to some last minute reading, analysing and extensive quoting. That's when I really love ebooks.

Culturethèque is not the only repository of French books online, these are my top four websites (other than Culturethèque).

Rockfort

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:36:44 +0100

When I was spending a lot of time at ResonanceFM, a volunteer-run arts radio station based in London Bridge, I'd sometimes bump into a girl with a French accent. It turned out that that she was manning a show on French culture in the UK, cunningly called Rockfort, (that's their blog ... I write "their" because Rockfort is in fact a duo). Here is a link to their back catalog (until 2009, on the Internet Archive website), and here is a link to the ResonanceFM blog.

BD & Comics Festival

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:25:50 +0100

I am very excited about the Institut's upcoming BD & Comics Passion festival. Book signings, a party ("cosmic" no less), competitions and workshops... next weekend.

Adobe Digital Editions

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:07:26 +0100

If you don't live in the UK, or in the unlikely event that you've read all the contemporary fiction on Culturethèque, here's a link to more free .epubs for your ereaders. Epubs are a format that a lot of ebooks come in.

Adobe Digital Editions is free software. You have to use it in order to read most of Culturethèque's contemporary fiction ebooks, and some of the ebooks in the classics section.

Adobe Digital Editions epubs are compatible with Sony and Samsung ereaders. A full list of the ereaders that are compatible with Adobe Digital Editions can be found here. It does not include Amazon's Kindle, as Amazon has created its own Kindle format, nor does it contain any Apple device.

Artfinder

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:40:40 +0100

I spoke to someone who used to work at Artfinder. I checked it out and the website lived up to my expectations. It is better than all the previous art websites I have mentioned on this blog. You can make your own gallery - be your own curator for your own little online museum. Good quality pictures and enormous variety. Here's an August Rodin tour.

The Albert Camus Rebelliously Evolving Blogpost

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:38:26 +0100

This blogpost was made to celebrate the uploading of Geoff Dyer's talk on Albert Camus on to Culturethèque.
This is the blogpost:
This week I will be writing just one blogpost - this one - and adding a new Camus link to it daily.
Contents: Camus' entire oeuvre in free, downloadable ebook form / In Our Time radio show on Camus / audioplay adaptations of two of Camus' works / a thematically linked song.

Blow:up

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:28:09 +0100

I like cinema. Especially when it’s good. But I don’t like to read Télérama. It bores me. No, what I like best is for you to take my hand and tell me about movies that I haven’t seen, or remind me of those I loved. Add a bit of music and you have my full attention.

Skateboarding in Paris

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:19:54 +0100

I've embedded a little video for today.
Aurore told me about it. She found it on this website.

Charles Matton exhibition in London

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:33:23 +0100

A fellow librarian suggested this exhibition about a French artist. Time Out says,
"In ‘Enclosures’, now open (to October 7) at All Visual Arts in Kings Cross, French artist Charles Matton creates meticulous miniature versions of interiors of the studios of Francis Bacon, Rembrandt, Hopper and Giacometti, as well as Baudrillards’s library and Freud’s study. "

L'Abbé Pierre

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:11:33 +0100

Take a walk around the square des Deux-Nèthes in Paris’s eighteenth arrondissement and you might come across a mural depicting Henri Marie Joseph Grouès, who goes by the slightly catchier alias of Abbé Pierre. Take a look (things start getting really impressive around the 1.52 mark).

Abbé Pierre probably sounds like someone from ‘Allo 'Allo, but he was actually very real. This is sort of what he looked like:

Agnès Bihl

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:45:06 +0100

Back in the CD era, I would enjoy buying albums and compilations for anything under a euro (the CD era was not that long ago). Usually, it was music I'd never heard of. Usually, the music was awful. Occasionally, however, I'd get really into something. It was a solitary technique of discovering music. The end result was that I'd know all the words to music no one had ever heard of.

One such album was Agnès Bihl's, "Merci Maman, Merci Papa," which a part from having the obvious advantage of blaming all of one's shortfalls on one's parents, also had some incredible puns. Read on for links and examples of puns by clicking on the title of this blogpost.

Mathieu Chedid

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:53:24 +0100

Having been brought up to the roars of the Libertines and the riffs of Led Zeppelin, rock music conjugated to the language of Molière has always had difficulties finding its place on my mp3 player.
However, one person, equipped with a pink guitar, managed to place himself, unsually, in the hearts of both rock lovers and admirers of French words.

Norman fait des vidéos

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:39:53 +0100

Like English-speakers, francophones occasionally make videos and upload them onto Youtube. Sometimes they’re kind of tragic, like this one. Occasionally, though, they’re really quite funny (and always a good way of picking up some slang).

French Hipsters and Japan.

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:51:39 +0100

There are a number of clues that indicate that fashionable Parisians like Japan. It is more debateable whether or not hipsters exist in Paris (according to various sources, hipsters do not exist in Paris, at least not in the typical "we all play synth" way).

The first indication came from my sister, who told me a friend of hers was on this website called Konbini. I was showing my friends this, and a Japanese-speaking friend told me Konbini meant "convenience store." Click on the title on this blogpost to see the video embedded.

A moment ago (and this is the second indication), I received an email from a friend suggesting I blog about a song, "the band are manged by Kitsune which is a French record label/ fashion house. Although I don't know if Culturetheque readers would be into it. I think the animation is excellent."
The video is the second one embedded below.

Ebook lovers

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:32:12 +0000

I hate those people on the tube, with their smug little noses in their smug little ereaders, while my poor finger muscles are exhausting themselves over bits of paper (bits of what?) and having to use two hands to get a story into my brain whilst juggling my bag and my coat and my book and my jealousy.

However, Culturethèque requires that I pass on some useful information. So I will, magnanimously, conceal my green-eyed anger with my reading spectacles, and get to the point.

Ebouquin is a blog in French for ereader owners. While I'm ranting, why not vent my angst at the creators of this website? They have cheekily undermined my usefulness by writing this fantastic blogpost about where you find ebooks for free on the internet, which is more comprehensive than mine.

Acronyms and Neologisms

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:51:11 +0100

Ever read a BD in France? Been offered an AR ticket? Been called BCBG? Even if you don’t know what any of those things are, it’s easy to see that the French are fond of acronyms. But there’s one that’s being thrown around a lot these days: DSK.

Watch more free documentaries online.

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 16:15:29 +0100

What is Kerguelen? Well, put it in your google map, and you'll see that it is in sub-Antarctica. It is part of the TAAF, the Terres Australes Antartiques Françaises. My mum was lucky enough to be on the ArchaeObs expediition (this link is trilingual). So I was watching the excellent Ker 12 documentary on Culturethèque (don't forget to log on to watch the full thing) and wanted to know even more. That's how I came across the CERIMES website. Some of their documentaries are fee-paying, and some are free. They've put stuff up on a dailymotion channel, too.

Vinyl recordings of classical pieces

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 09:43:38 +0000

There is, perhaps, a contradiction here: I like hearing that crinkly noise over the top of recordings, and I like my music to be digitalised. Some say that it's "new age fun" with a "vintage feel." So be it, I'm a hipster. And I should tell you about those French bands that add the vinyl crinkle-crinkle sound to what could be a crisp little studiorecording, about musician-engineers who like their sound to be special and old, like a boot-legged Brel track, or like rust paint on stainless steel.
But in this post, I want to explore vinyl versions of classical music online.

Bilingual '60's and '70's songs : which version do you prefer?

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:56:48 +0100

It's far from accurate to translate "runaway" as "Vanina," or "comme d'habitude" as "my way." There have been a number of bizarre transpositions like that in pop history, where a singer from abroad like a song and have just hung their own lyrics on it.
Read on to watch the videos.

"The Entire Country Runs On Baguettes": Impressionists on iPlayer.

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:25:05 +0100

I recently received this message in my inbox about this iPlayer documentary. A small yet significant portion of my days is spent on iPlayer, so I felt it was my duty to relay the information.

"Further to your recent blog post (no need to credit me by the way, I'm happy being your anonymous friend in the know), just watched this excellent Waldemar Januzsack programme on the impressionists."
(Click on the title of the blogpost to read on).

Watch this video and save the world

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:28:13 +0100

...Well, not quite. It’s a pretty cool video though.

Conceived by BDDP Unlimited and Clément Beauvais, French director, illustrator, musician and photographer extraordinaire, the video is part of a campaign by Solidarités International to raise awareness about unhygienic water.
The video’s simple but moving ink-play reveals the ‘silent, invisible danger’ that dirty water poses us. It’s also good for your listening, too.

Give it a watch here then visit and sign the petition. World Water Day might have been four months ago (who knew?), but it’s never too late to help out, so, you know, do it.

Online Players

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:48:26 +0100

This is not about online poker; this is not about online dating. This is about online web radios. The other day, I was busy checking out books in the children's library, when I noticed that Anissa had left two windows up in the web browser. Anissa, you should know, listens to a lot of French radio. These were the two windows:
The France Culture live radio player and the France Inter live radio player. It's not like in England where there are plenty of stations grouped in iPlayer. France goes by individual stations to send out the live feed.

Copyright and streaming films

Thu, 12 May 2011 17:10:50 +0100

I have friends who make fun of me. One of them is a dinosaur-enthusiast who reads this blog. He wrote me a little message on my facebook wall making fun of a blog post. Here is our facebook wall conversation:

The dinosaur-enthusiast: "I've discovered a great resource for watching out-of-copyright movies, oh wait, it's Youtube."

Read on for links to films (click on the title of this blogpost).

Flight of the Conchords

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:14:37 +0100

This New Zealand comedy duo are not French.
I showed this video, "Foux de Fafa," to my work mates and they found the stereotype accurate.
It is quite an old video, and I was surprised that my colleagues had not seen it yet, so I took it upon myself to show it to them.
In case you have not seen Foux de Fafa, click on the title of the blogpost to see the video.

A Bel-Ami film from 1947 : watch it online

Thu, 26 May 2011 17:04:09 +0100

I was researching links for the Institut français reading group this evening, which is on Bel-Ami (tonight at seven in South Kensington).
And I came across an entire film on youtube. In reference to my previous blog, I will pass on the information.
The Private Affairs of Bel-Ami (1947), 112m, USA.
It's got the lady from Bedknobs and Broomsticks in it.
Here's the link to watch it on youtube.
6.8/10 on imdb.
I've embedded the 8 parts below (click on the title of the blog post to see them).

Unesco Online Library

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:58:06 +0100

I am so excited right now. Apparently the whole world has heard of Unesco's Bibliothèque Numérique Mondiale. Have you ever looked for moss? It used to be one of my hobbies. I used to love hunting about for moss. And it goes like this, you pick pick pick, and then there's none, and you know where all the moss is. Well, I just found a whole load more moss.

What I mean is, this is yet more digitalised media for free online. In TIFF format, so, sorry epub/pdf lovers, no ereader-reading for you... but these are sumptuous books.

After a short browse, my two favourites are from China and from France.

Hip French Ears - pop music in France.

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:37:22 +0100

Can French people be hip? If we accept this possibility, here are some handy links to find out what French hipsters are listening to.

Deezer suggests plenty of songs, it's like an online Spotify but you don't need to download a program.

La Blogothèque is also a very popular source of amusement, at least back when I was trouncing about Paris. It is the equivalent of the Black Cab sessions in that they record videos in an informal environment and artists are forced to perform their songs without studio help.

Médecins Sans Frontières

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:39:11 +0100

MSF is a French NGO that provides medical and health infrastructure to war zones. I've been told a number of times that it is among the most efficient NGOs. They have lots of documentary pieces in English and in French on their two Youtube channels. This is their wikipedia page, and this is their Nobel Peace Prize page.

Un gars, une fille

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:37:00 +0100

Hands up if you like gender stereotyping!
OK, perhaps not so much now. But back in the late 90s people liked it quite a bit.
It was even the subject of a funny and successful series called Un gars, une fille.
Here is the happy couple:

Gallic Books Blog

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:01:24 +0100

There is a publishing house that prints translations of French contemporary fiction. They have a blog. They put some great music on there. They've got some great links (Culturethèque, obviously, but also Scott Pack's blog and The Big Green Bookshop). These are my favourite posts:

Bastille Day – Le point de vue d’un anglais à Aix

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:13:51 +0100

Yesterday was Bastille Day, the French National Day which marks the storming of the infamous Bastille prison in Paris on 14 July 1789.

Saluting Marseille’s Gare St Charles

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:10:59 +0100

Stepping off the train from Aix at Marseille’s Gare Saint-Charles is unlike arriving at many other railway stations.

The Goutte d'Or! L'Institut des Cultures d'Islam invite Martin Parr

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 13:50:07 +0100

Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He has the same birthday as me.

International Partnerships in Business Schools conference

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:49:03 +0100

The International Partnerships in Business Schools, on how international partnerships in business schools help improve graduate profiles for the future job market, has been uploaded onto Culturethèque's Vimeo account so that it can be watched from abroad.
If you're in the UK, you can watch the conference on Culturethèque.

One of the films I would most like to see ... never got made.

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:41:23 +0100

There's a 2009 documentary about Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno.
You can read the Guardian article about the documentary about the film, you can listen or read the Leftfield cinema blog or you can have a peek at this incredible extract from Clouzot's footage.

David Lamelas

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:04:14 +0100

Wednesday 22nd June at 6.15pm at the Institut français: The Invention of Dr Morel (2000, 25 mins) and The Light at the Edge of a Nightmare (2002-2005, 75 mins). Introduced by David Lamelas.

Klapisch, capisce?

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:15:03 +0100

This is Cédric Klapisch (‘clap-eesh’). He’s a famous French filmmaker.

Art history in French pop music: a music video.

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:15:39 +0000

My flatmates told me about this hilarious video by the Franco-American rock group produced in France called Hold Your Horses. The song's title is 70 Million.

A little game: how many paintings can you identify? Just the name of the artists will do, but you get brownie points if you know the title of the paintings, too.
Watch the music video on this blogpost, then leave your guesses in the comment box below.

A Squat in Paris

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 17:43:53 +0100

Before I go into the whole story, I'll get to the point. There used to be a squat called La Suite in south Paris, and it closed down in October 2010. Every Thursday, they'd have a sort of open mic night where people would pay 1 euros and defy all health and safety laws by quasi-vacuum-packing themselves into a fairy-lit basement.

Stream Arte documentaries on Youtube

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:09:55 +0100

I found a blog post announcing that Arte +7 were putting up documentaries for free on Youtube, so I typed "arte +7" into Youtube and found loads of entire Arte produced documentaries in over seven parts.
In French: Michel Foucault (to get to part 2, just type Michel Foucault - French Documentary - arte-france (2/7) into the Youtube search, and the same up to 7), Lully (similarly, Lully-Arte-Documentaire 2/10 up to 10) and an old school documentary on Aerosmith.
In English: The History of the Talmud.

French bloggers and their "bandes dessinées"

Mon, 23 May 2011 17:54:47 +0100

There are a lot of bloggers in France who publish some little comic strips as posts.
One of my favourites is "Kek". His strips are short, very funny and easy to understand, too.

He also published a complete comic strip available for free online.

Unfortunately, it hasn't been translated yet but given there are a lot of drawings...

Engrenages (Spiral): a good French television show that you can find on iPlayer.

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:41:05 +0100

Today was a big day for me. I had no idea what to write on the blog. Imagine! Blog block! It's awful. The big blank box. The lack of a doodle. I don't want to talk about it.
I asked around, and Camille said, "what about Spiral?"
"What is Spiral?" you may wonder - as I did.
So I've got two links for you:
ONE - the iPlayer page for Spiral, so you can watch it in the UK, in French, with English subtitles, for free and online (iPlayer is almost as good as Culturethèque).
TWO - a really positive review of it.They say it's "a French cop show almost as good as The Wire." Rien que ça!

Zéro de Conduite

Fri, 06 May 2011 16:49:28 +0100

I have watched, rewatched and analysed this film. Please take my word for it: it's a good'un. Among the best in fact.
Zéro de Conduite is about revolution. It inspired another one of my favourite films, If....
It is online for free, legally I think. You absolutely have to watch it before you die.
So here we have:
ONE a link to the internet archive page that allows you to download the film
TWO a link to the Google video if you prefer to stream it (less good quality).
THREE a link to the wikipedia page.
If you click on the title of this blog post, you can watch the Google video version below.

Podcasts

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:58:12 +0100

Go to iTunes, go to iTunes store, go to "Podcasts"... do you see all those episodes? Yep, well, they're all free. You can download all or any of them for zero amounts of money, and listen to them anywhere - on a bus perhaps, while you stare out the window.

This is a list of podcasts that the French download the most:
(click on the title of the blog post for the list).

A Levels (French). Part two: using wordreference.com (and other dictionaries).

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:24:07 +0000

So, you've put your translation through the translate tool on Google docs, but you have a nagging feeling that you shouldn't trust a computer to write your sweat and tears into another language.
It feels more honest, doing it word-by-word using wordreference.com.

Wordreference is made using a combination of online dictionaries, but most importantly, user-generated forums on particular expressions. A translator's heaven.

Two other dictionary websites I like:

Audiobooks Online

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 16:14:03 +0000

Today, I've been tip-toeing around the internet, finding links for the Culturethèque, because we're like that at Culturethèque – we like sharing.
I am a radio enthusiast, and grew up listening to story tapes. I like downloading stories and putting them onto my mp3 player and listening to them while I travel places. So my instinct was to not only link Culturethèque audiobooks to Culturethèque ebooks, but to stretch further, and make links to non-Culturethèque internet spaces. I've put the links on the individual pages, but for your comfort and ease, here's a list of the best of this morning's pickings.

French Podcasts : A Compendium

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:45:52 +0000

There's a secret mailing-list among UK universities' French departments - French culture enthusiasts bounce back and forth about François Hollande, books that they've written, conferences - that sort of thing. It's not really that secret.
Recently, one man had a question about podcasts, and he got plenty of responses and sent a list back round. I asked him if I could put it on this blog and he told me to "spread the word." So here we are, some word-spreading. Of course, he wrote about Culturethèque, but I'm assuming you know about that website already.

(Click on the title of this blogpost to see the full list.)

Vous utilisez la bi-bi-si pour apprendre le français?

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:08:44 +0000

At school, I loved the "parascolaire" section of the enormous secondhand bookshop. Last year, I was sorting through my books and I come across these dated (2004/5!), flimsy little books and question why I became so addicted to them, and why the little Hatier logo had the same effect on me as a carambar.
In the U.K, there seems to be less of a market, but the internet has some sweet sites. Here are three examples:

The Illusionist on 16th July

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:00:39 +0100

We are a North London community arts group about to screen The Illusionist. The event is intended to be a celebration of Bastille day and of all things French. Entry price is only £1 per person and this includes
refreshments.

Read on for more details.

Anissa's Cultural Tip: Bernar Venet at the Château de Versailles

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:12:29 +0100

Bernar (with no "d) Venet was born in 1941 and he grew up in Nice. He now lives and works in New York, and is well known today for his monumental sculptures in rusty steel exhibited in big cities around the world. Bernar Venet's work has been exhibited in Park Avenue in New York, in Shanghai and in Bordeaux. Have a look at his work in the video below (click on the title of this blog post to see it).
The exhibition is in the gardens of the Château de Versailles, and it starts on 1st June.

There'll be no new blogs until 1st August.

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:03:26 +0100

Have a look at the blog archive if you get bored, but don't rely on me to blog while I'm in a mountain house with no internet! It's not gonna happen!

In the meantime, you could fill your days by writing a potential blogpost and emailing it to culturetheque@ambafrance.org.uk.

Anish Kapoor at the Grand Palais.

Fri, 13 May 2011 16:06:05 +0100

WHO: Anish Kapoor.
WHAT: A giant red thing (contemporary art).
WHERE: At the Grand Palais, in Paris.
WHY: It's a French government initiative.
WHEN: May 11th – June 23rd, 2011.

Discovering the Internet Archive

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:07:10 +0100

"The Internet Archive, a non-profit, is a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public."

It is a like an enormous Culturethèque, so ... I like it.
The main difference is that all the content is volunteer-based and/or in the public domain.

For today's post, I thought a link to an audiobook of Goethe's Les Souffrances du Jeune Werther, in French translation, would be a nice start to this week of discovering the glories of the Internet Archive.

Free music downloads from Gutenberg

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 19:27:36 +0100

I recently discovered that Project Gutenberg wasn't simply a place to go for millions of free eBooks (even in Kindle format) but also supplies the earth with plenty of sound recordings - download Debussy here and other people here.

Anissa's cultural tip: an exhibition on the Dufy brothers

Fri, 27 May 2011 15:02:27 +0100

Like the exhibition dedicated to the Caillebotte brothers held in Jacquemart-André Museum (in this blog post), the Marmottan Monet Museum in Paris did an exhibition on Raoul and Jean Dufy. The work of Raoul is well known. His brother Jean, also a painter, is less so.

The exhibition is until the 26th June at the Musée Marmottan Monet.
Click on the title of this blog post to see a video contrasting their work.

A Levels (French). Part one: where to find pastpapers.

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:55:53 +0000

I know it's weird sitting at home at your desk, pretending you're in exam conditions when really iPlayer is only six and a half steps away. But give it a go, it's a win-win situation.

This website has the last couple of years' worth.

Learning French at Intermediate Level

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:57:38 +0100

Hark, A2, B1 and B2 learners! If you know what those letters mean, I suggest you go along to this website... it has some useful language-learning tools, especially if you like the South-West of France and plan to travel there. The website also has a daily-life themed page and a colourful kid's page with games and cartoons. For teachers, there's this bit.

Françoise Hardy

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:55:52 +0100

I've been building up the music section on Culturethèque with the help of some brilliant videos from the French Archives. I wanted to mention three things to do with Françoise Hardy, but couldn't fit them gracefully on to the page.
NUMBER ONE: The series of videos with Françoise Hardy in London, all on Youtube.
NUMBER TWO: Tous les Garçons et Les Filles - a lovely yéyé song. I should also balance that out with Sylvie Vartan's Pour Aller Danser, and France Gall's Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son (written by Gainsbourg, no less).
NUMBER THREE: This shockingly awesome picture of Hardy:

The Open University's freebies for learning French

Tue, 24 May 2011 16:11:07 +0100

There was a mega-conference here the other day, and some people from the Open University gave a conference on everything they had to offer.

Right at the end of their presentation there was a section on all their online freebies. I'd advise French learners to got to iTunes, go to iTunes store, go to iTunes U and search for "open university French". I just had a peek and there is plenty on offer, for free.

The lady giving the presentation also spoke of free annotated French books - do you know where I can find these?

There's a Guardian podcast on French literature.

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:10:58 +0100

A little bird told me (a twitter post) about this podcast.

A Condemned Man

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:45:35 +0100

I spent a while dawdling in the imaginary corridors of The Internet Archive and found yet another free French audiobooks website.

The lay-out of Audiocite is horrific, but the content is the opposite.
And just for the heck of it, I've embedded a player of the reading of Hugo's The Last Day of A Condemned Man. (Click on the title of this blogpost to get to it).

The secret room at the Musée D'Orsay

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:02:18 +0000

London does not have: the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée Picasso, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée Rodin, the Musée Carnavalet or the Musée de Cluny.
What do I do for Carolingian artefacts when I'm stuck in England? How do I get my fill of Boltanski when all I've got is the Gilbert & George championning from the Tate? There's no replacement for a casual stroll (especially in the gardens of the Musée Rodin in summer) but there is the internet.

Here is a selection of online virtual tours of museums in Paris.

Diamonds and Auctions

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 15:55:19 +0000

"Tout ce qui est rare est cher, or un cheval bon marché est rare, donc un cheval bon marché est cher."
Are these rare or expensive? Or both, perhaps.
ONE: a house that looks like a boat.
TWO: a French diamond that dates back to when France had a monarchy.
Don't forget that on Google documents, you can use the "translate" button, and it is often more accurate than Google translate.

L'Abbé Pierre

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:34:09 +0000

There are things the French do that can get on British nerves, but la Fondation de l'Abbé Pierre is never one of these. L'Abbé Pierre was not only a résistant, but also helped set up one of the most important and active charities in France.

In the context of this charity, a series of web-documentaries were made on the topic of different sorts of what France calls "mal-logements" (dodgy, or bad, housing). In 2010, 3.6 million French people were living in substandard conditions.
This series approaches the issue from a number of angles ranging from evictions, unhealthy or unsafe conditions to issues relating to social housing.

Director Samuel Bollendorf, uses an innovative narrative technique in order to get the message across, combining photos, videos and 360° interactive viewing of the houses with a faceless, factual voice-over from the residents, thereby managing to avoid personal or emotional voyeurism.

The documentaries are in French, with French subtitles.

Equation Musique - a gig at 7:30 pm on Tuesday 7th June

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:35:49 +0100

Winyo (Kenya), Bélo (Haiti) and Wanlov the Kubolor (Ghana) are currently on tour around Germany, Italy and France, and this Rich Mix date is their sole date in the UK! Their broad styles of music from gypsy flavoured fusion, to folk and reggae highlight just some of the wealth of talent coming out of Africa at the moment. All three bands have been celebrated widely for their musical creations, including a Mobo Awards nomination in 2010 for Wanlov the Kubolor.

Mosaïques : 13th festival of World Culture

Thu, 19 May 2011 11:52:19 +0100

This year's 13th edition of Mosaïques Festival of World Culture in London features a host of UK premieres, preview screenings, director Q&As and music at Ciné lumière, Rich Mix, Iniva and The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Presenting films from around 15 countries, the programme offers audiences a selection of the most outstanding new World Cinema, and continues to engage leading directors who bring a diverse range of cultures closer to home.

Jean-Louis Forain at the Petit Palais in Paris

Fri, 13 May 2011 11:13:12 +0100

Painter, sketcher, caricaturist, graphic artist - Jean-Louis Forain was born in Rheims on October 23, 1852. He moved to Paris with his family, he went to the Louvre, to copy great works and he met some impressionists. After having fought in World War I his career gained a politcal slant and his sketches showed the horrors of war.
The exhibition of Forain's work is at the Petit Palais until the 5th of June 2011.
Click on the title of this blogpost for a video of the exhibition.

Soirées lyriques de l'Opéra de Paris - Thursday 26th May at the Institut français

Tue, 03 May 2011 19:20:08 +0100

Following the success of the first Soirée lyrique in January, the Institut français is delighted to welcome back young professional soloists from the Opéra de Paris for a second concert at Ciné lumière.

Aimé Césaire entre au Panthéon

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:01:28 +0100

A national tribute was paid on Wednesday 6th of April 2011 to the poet and political figure Aimé Césaire who died in 2008.
Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was a poet and playwright from Martinique.
He was a powerful voice of « négritude » and decolonisation.
He is being honoured at the Panthéon with a national tribute and a ceremony by the French Republic.

Iscribe, youscribe, wescribe for youscribe.

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:28:25 +0100

Youscribe is a plateform created last April by Pirlot de Corbion, former manager of Chapitre.com.
This plateform allows you to deliver your written productions and make yourself known, sell your documents and share your views with the community. You can also read thousands of digital publications online.

Researching social, human and regular sciences in French journals without leaving your home (almost)

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:56:59 +0000

These journals are great for students and researchers.

Persée is great tool that's available anywhere in the world. It was set up by the University of Lyon who regularly digitilises thousands of scientific journals.

Cairn is only accessible from the Institut français in London and a selection of other libraries in the UK. Cairn gives you access to hundreds of human and social science journals.

Christine Angot will read from her latest novel Les Petits on Tuesday 17 May 2011 in London

Mon, 09 May 2011 17:20:39 +0100

The Contemporary Women’s Writing in French Seminar is delighted to welcome French author, Christine Angot, who will read from and discuss her latest novel Les Petits (Paris: Flammarion, 2011) on Tuesday 17 May 2011, at the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, University of London, Senate House, 5.30-7pm, in Room G37.

Angot will also answer questions from the audience and sign copies of her books (which will be on sale). The event will be in French.

Ina.fr and Dailymotion team up for Le Salon Du Livre

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:49:04 +0000

Ina.fr's Dailymotion channel is, as Charlie Sheen has been saying, "winning." Anissa enthusiastically told me about it this morning, because they just made a chunky new playlist to welcome Le Salon du Livre (the one in Paris).

This is what she told me:
"The "Institut national de l'audiovisuel" offers, during the whole session of the Salon du Livre and until the end of the month of March, free and integral viewing of the programmes led by Bernard Pivot between 1975 and 1990, i.e. 724 programmes.
Internet users can view free of charge interviews of French and international thinkers such as Sojenitsyne, Nabokov, Yourcenar, Levi-Strauss, Bernard-Henri Lévy etc."

Yes, you can go and watch Milan Kundera and a man obsessed with spelling (Bernard Pivot) talk about Kafka and Orwell. I know you had a dream about it back when you were sixteen. Or was that just me? Oh.

Anissa's cultural tip: The Caillebotte Brothers' private world.

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:04:59 +0100

An unusual exhibition is taking place at the Musee Jacquemart-Andre, in Paris : two artists : one of them internationally known, Gustave, and the other, Martial is totally unknown ; one of them paints, while the other takes pictures. Both were born and bred in Paris, and both reveal Paris in a very intimate way.

23RD MAY: WATCH "HOME" ON CULTURETHEQUE

Tue, 10 May 2011 11:59:46 +0100

A feature-length documentary, here on Culturethèque.

Studying in France: an open day in London

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 18:09:12 +0100

CampusFrance is a non-profit national Agency serving the public interest and acts under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

Dedicated to the promotion of French higher education, CampusFrance offers international students a path to success and assists them with college counselling, information, and application procedures.

In partnership with the Coopération Universitaire Service of the French Embassy (student-services agency), this open day will serve to better familiarise representatives from UK universities with the resources and benefits open to those studying in France, by covering subjects ranging from education options to research facilities. Guidance regarding student transfers and general mobility will also be provided.

Click on the title of this blogpost for details of this open day.

Censorship

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:59:53 +0000

Aurore told me about this blog where you send in a picture of yourself and a book. The websites says it has two aims: sharing ideas for what to read, and the other is praising freedom of speech. Topical. And what's more...

Algeria in Manchester

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:35:41 +0100

Set against the backdrop of recent social turmoil and a complex colonial and political history, New Cartographies: Algeria – France – UK showcases the work of ten emerging and established artists from the three countries, charting the influence of family, memory, migration and cultural heritage on identity, and mapping an intricate web of connections across the Mediterranean and beyond.

Booksale in London, Saturday 21st May.

Tue, 17 May 2011 17:17:09 +0100

For months now, we've been turning our fingers grey in preparation for the enormous booksale this Saturday. The library of the Institut français plans to buy new books, and so we need you to help us get rid of the old ones. We librarians have been finecombing shelves of art books, graphic novels, books about film, history books, cookbooks, novels, children's literature, taking out slightly damaged or slightly old ones. We're also putting all our VHSes on sale.
Click on the title of this blogpost for details.

Baz Baz and Winston Mc Anuff at the Favela Chic 18th May

Mon, 09 May 2011 15:39:32 +0100

On the 17th, they'll be playing at the Notting Hill Arts club.

Le Journal de Delacroix - find it online

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 18:55:05 +0000

I was behind the desk in the library today, the physical one, not Culturethèque (I'm always behind the Culturethèque desk), and a man came to me with a very specific request.
"Do you have Delacroix's Journal?" he asked.
I looked it up in the library catalogue and found the Institut Français only has an audiobook of selected extracts. The eventually decided to borrow the CD but seemed disappointed. I asked him whether he'd searched online yet.
"No, no, that hadn't crossed my mind."
He put the audiobook in his bag and I carried on looking for open source versions of Delacroix's Journals. I found plenty.
I looked him up in the lists and found his email address, I emailed him my findings, but the email bounced.
That made me sad.

I have copy-pasted the email and links below, so that my brief frenzy of research was not in vain.

Bob Dylan ... in French

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:21:17 +0000

Call it a travesty, or call it what you will, this website translates all of Bobby Dee's lyrics into French. Under the picture is a complementary "Ecoute dans le Vent," the French version of "Blowing in the Wind."

Oui Love Tour: it's the French Invasion!

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:24:07 +0000

Team Ghost and Anoraak, two of France's hottest new talents will be on the Oui Love tour in May this year, supported by a band selected from the UK's music academy Access to Music student network.

The remixes will be released on a limited edition 7" out in collaboration between Oui Love and Sonic Cathedral.

Sat 14 Brighton, The Great Escape.
Mon 16 Bristol, The Louisiana.
Tues 17 Birmingham, Hare & Hounds.
Wed 18 Manchester, The Castle.
Thu 19 Liverpool, Liverpool Sound City.
Fri 20 London, CAMP (with after-party DJs until 4am)
Not only is the tour going happening, but the bands have remixed each other. You can stream and download the tracks here.

A Casual Pick of French language Vimeo videos.

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:43:38 +0000

I can't get over how generous people are on Vimeo. The quality of content is often professional, but vimeo also has a strong sense of community, keeping it friendly and lo-fi. Comments are never offensive (unlike youtube!) and there is a great deal of respect among users for each others' work.
This is a link for a group on vimeo called Courts Métrages Français.
Below are three videos I picked out this morning.

Sonia Wieder-Atherton, Exclusive Event at the Institut français

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:59:12 +0000

Cellist, interpreter of a very broad repertoire reflecting her imaginative world, a designer of projects, and a musician sought after by many contemporary composers, Sonia Wieder-Atherton occupies a special place on today's musical scene.

Prior to her residence at Kings Place on 17, 18 and 19 March 2011, the French cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton introduces three of her creations: Chants Juifs, Vita (Monteverdi's madrigals and Giacinto Scelsi’s Trilogy for cello solo) and D'Est in Music, with images taken from Chantal Akerman's film, D’Est. Sonia will discuss her upcoming programme, perform some extracts from her new CD Vita and talk around some images. This event is a unique occasion to discover the richness of this great musician and the links she creates between art forms and different worlds. There will be a Q&A and CD signing.

Tue 15 Mar 7.00pm | £10, conc. £8 | in English | Institut français du Royaume-Uni

Serge Gainsbourg died twenty years ago

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:14:20 +0000

He's had a film in his honour, plenty of anthologies, a large amount of musical references, but Anissa and I just wanted to remind you of this cheeky little song he wrote in his early days.

Eugène Labiche’s "Edgard et sa bonne," 22nd - 23rd March in Manchester.

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:10:47 +0000

Cosseted mummy’s boy Edgard realises the time has come to contract an advantageous marriage… all that stands in the way is his ongoing dalliance with the housemaid, who has no intention of finding herself jilted! A mordant satire of class, money and sexual mores, Labiche’s sparkling comedy remains utterly contemporary and utterly hilarious.

Live: Keren Ann @ Jazz Café - London - on 6th April

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:22:28 +0100

Keren Ann was in Lady and Bird, she collaborated with the Symphony Orchestra in Reykjavik. Then she made this song, and she was saying on the front page of the Guardian website how she wrote it. This song (click on the title of this blogpost to find out which one) was produced by EMI France.

Gallimard

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:03:54 +0000

2011 is the centenary year for the French publishing house Gallimard.
The Bibliothèque Nationale de France is celebrating this anniversary in an exhibition that goes back through the history of Gallimard.
You can view some exceptional pieces, as well as unpublished documents, such as manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, reading cards, posters and audiovisual archives from the 22nd of March until the 3rd of July 2011 at the National French Library in Paris. For English residents, you can see what's on offer here.

'Do Not Abandon Me' : Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin at the Hauser & Wirth

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:39:01 +0000

This is what they say it's about:
"Hauser & Wirth is proud to present ‘Do Not Abandon Me’, a collaboration between Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin consisting of sixteen intimate works made over the past two years. These drawings articulate physical drives and feelings, candidly confronting themes of identity, sexuality and the fear of loss and abandonment through joint expression."

La Caravane Passe and Le KKC Orchestra

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:15:37 +0000

...at the Favela Chic (in London) on the 25th February.

London, February, Gigs.

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:44:47 +0000

Pick of the crop: some French gigs in London this month.

Eight Women at the Southwark Playhouse until 9 April

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:28:21 +0000

Eight Women can be seen at Southwark Playhouse until 9 April.

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Read a review here.

Parisian duo I AM UN CHIEN playing Wednesday 26 January at the Favela Chic in London

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:56:40 +0000

Vive La France presents the Parisian duo, I AM UN CHIEN, “Two human dogs playing with electro sounds”. Imagine The Prodigy meeting Rage Against the Machine and having a party. Electro heavy, dance heavy, head banging bliss.In partnership with the French bureau music export and Eurostar, and now, Ricard, the “Vive La France” series of gigs launched in early 2010 at Favela Chic in Shoreditch London.
Restaurant and bar open 6.00pm
Music from 7.30-1
FREE
www.favelachic.com/london

My French Film Festival - 1st Worldwide Online Film Festival in January!

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:04:21 +0000

For the first time, an entirely virtual French film festival enable everyone, wherever they are in the world, to have access to a selection of films and vote for their favourites. From 14-29 January 2011 film buffs worldwide will be able to access all the films proposed in the 1st edition of the online French Film Festival.

Albert Camus' The Plague at the Barbican London.

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:13:12 +0000

Albert Camus' The Plague at the Barbican London, 8pm Saturday 15 January 2011.
Crouch End Festival Chorus.

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année: Alliance française de Manchester.

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:12:55 +0000

Discover some of the wonderful events taking place at the Alliance française in Manchester over the holiday season and into the new year! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Film Documentary Month: Children and the environment!

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:34:47 +0000

Combining the Youth Festival and our previous celebration, the European Film Documentary Month, this blog offers you some children's resources to discovery and enjoy learning about environmental issues in a fun and accessible way.

The Environment - Documentary Film Month!

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:40:14 +0100

November is documentary film month in France and all French médiathèque libraries all over Europe are celebrating this fantastic event! The Institut français is proud to present the 11th edition of the European Documentary Film Month and Culturethèque is pleased to offer you all you need to know about this year's theme: the environment.

Hubert Reeves - Conteur d'étoiles

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:45:16 +0100

Discover this documentary portrait of the Franco-Quebec ecologist, Hubert Reeves, a humanist, an astro-physicist and a scientific thinker. He fights to allow the future generations of the human race to live on a habitable planet. In his opinion, the hours is now to make a change. He reminds us that scientific discovery renders us responsible for the upkeep and care of planet earth. If we don't fight for the same cause, our home will soon become a hell of our own making...

Watch the full film here on Culturethèque!

Art, Art and More Art!

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:09:14 +0100

If you're an art history and painting fanatic, now is the time to indulge! There are so many exhibitions on at the moment between Paris and London that you'll be spoiled for choice! Find out all you need to know about the Gauguin exhibition at the Tate Modern, the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain at the Grand Palais and the Frieze Art Fair. Enjoy!

On the Catwalk: Paris Fashion Week!

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:05:53 +0100

Maybe you couldn't be in Paris for Fashion Week! That doesn't mean you can't enjoy all the action from afar! Discover all the Spring/Summer 2011 trends from Chanel in the following videos!

Paris Fashion Week!

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 11:03:10 +0100

Fashion Week has just finished in London but the fun is not over yet. Paris Fashion Week is in full swing on the other side of the Channel and we are celebrating all that is 'fabulous' here on Culturethèque! Below, find links to events, fashion shows and blogs to discover all you need to know!

Daniel Pennac and poet Michael Rosen at the book launch of School Blues.

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:44:27 +0100

Listen to the conversation between Daniel Pennac and poet Michael Rosen at the book launch of School Blues.

Le Français par les peintres: an exciting new online language-learning resource

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:53:00 +0100

Le Français par les peintres is a new resource lauched by the Courtauld Institute of Art in 2010. This project was co-founded by the Centre de Langues at the Institut français du Royaume Uni and The Courtauld Gallery, London.

Prix Littéraires: Actualités

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:04:46 +0100

Keep up to date with the 'Rentrée Littéraire' and the various nominees for the French Literary Prizes with the following links:

Première sélection for the Goncourt Prize 2010

Première sélection for the Renaudot Prize 2010

Premiére sélection for the Wepler Prize 2010

Yann Tiersen touring in UK in October and November

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:50:53 +0100

Fresh from releasing a new single, “Palestine”, from his eagerly-awaited album, Tiersen hits the road in a show which will push musical boundaries, and examine his repertoire under a renewed musical light.

Jean Michel Jarre "2010" Odyssey in October in UK

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:50:53 +0100

The French composer, performer, and producer Jean Michel Jarre, regarded as a pioneer in the electric, synthpop, ambient and New Age genres, return to the UK for the second leg of his “2010” tour.

Archives on Moubarak

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:35:04 +0000

Reading today's papers, this depiction of Moubarak when he came to power, is startling.

Bastille Day on Culturethèque

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:16:41 +0100

Celebrate Bastille Day on Culturethèque with our selection of documents and join the bal at the Alliance française of Manchester

Ici France Inter Londres @ Institut français

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:59:26 +0100

France Inter is getting organised for 18 hours of live broadcasting at the Institut français. A joyful Landing

Map of Festivals in France this Summer

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:42:13 +0100

Find the festival next door when in France during this Summer

Jazz in Marciac Festival (Midi-Pyrennées): 30 July - 15 August

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:42:13 +0100

Treat yourself at the 33rd Jazz in Marciac Festival. Food and Music, what else?
www.jazzinmarciac.com

Virtual Exhibition: Free French in London and the Institut français during the War

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:49:14 +0100

With the Appeal of June 18th, General De Gaulle came to the fore as a national hero for Free France. In light of the significance surrounding this historical appeal which is commemorated across London and in France, the Institut français has decided to focus on the role of famous as well as everyday Free French during the Second World War.

Mina Agossi @ Tron Theatre, Glasgow on June 21st

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:28:32 +0100

The Glasgow International Jazz Festival, the Alliance Francaise and the French Music Export Bureau have teamed up to enable French-Beninese Jazz Singer Mina Agossi to perform to her growing UK audience. Mina Agossi will be performing at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow on June 21st, 8pm.

Intense Intimacy: The Cinema of Claire Denis

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:13:20 +0100

A Watershed programme touring the UK and Ireland in June and July 2010

Yes, Oui Love! Four french Bands touring in UK in may 2010

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:08:41 +0100

In may 2010, the The French Music Export Office in London set up a tour with four talented french bands: The Bewitched Hands on the top of our heads, Curry and Coco, Revolver and The Shoes. Watch some sounds and words from them.

Your Digital Photo @ Culturethèque Launch Party

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:49:14 +0100

Get your digital Photo shot at the Culturethèque Launch Party! Simply email library@ambafrance.org.uk with the subject "Culturethèque Launch Party" and we will provide you a link to access and download your photo. All artwork by Marko93.

L'Académie française

Thu, 27 May 2010 12:57:49 +0100

Get closer to the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language.

Back in England: Charlotte Gainsbourg @ Shepherd's Bush Empire on 22 June

Tue, 25 May 2010 17:51:48 +0100

The daughter of British actress and singer Jane Birkin and French singer-songwriter, actor and director, Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte Gainsbourg represents a true triple-threat: singer, songwriter, and actress.

Use Culturethèque to prepare your French courses.

Mon, 24 May 2010 18:21:51 +0100

Find all the books you need to prepare your French lessons on Culturethèque and browse Languageawards.com for more.

London call to France: The 18 June 1940 appeal Anniversary

Sat, 22 May 2010 19:08:25 +0100

On 18 June 1940, as the French government prepared to sign an armistice with the Nazi invaders, General Charles de Gaulle broadcast on the BBC to France.

"HOME" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand - Watch in English and/or French! Copy

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:45:18 +0100

Home is a 2009 documentary by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is almost entirely composed of aerial shots of various places on Earth. It shows the diversity of life on Earth and how humanity is threatening the ecological balance of the planet. The movie was released simultaneously on June 5, 2009 in cinemas across the globe!

Discover this formidable documentary here on Culturethèque in the original French version or in English below:

"HOME" by Yann Arthus-Bertrand - Watch in English and/or French!

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:40:08 +0100

Discover this amazing documentary here on Culturethèque in the original French version or in English below: