The French Film Festival has once again arrived to Fullerton College.
The event, sponsored by the Humanities’ Division French Film Festival Committee, is now running for a 7th year.
French professor Catherine Rinehardt-Zacair is the chair of the French Film Festival for the Spring 2016 semester. She, along with Humanities Division administration assistant Carol Rehfield and Spanish Professor Ruth Egigian have been working hard to prepare for the upcoming event.
The festival had been held at the Wilshire Auditorium for years. However, problems such as the lack of up to date equipment, lack of restrooms and resources for the handicapped facilitated problems to moviegoers.
This year would be the first time that the event is to be held at the Fullerton College Theatre.
“Every year we grow in attendance,” said Rehfield. “After second year I realized this can be something more than a school activity. It branched out and started to grow, and now we have a following from the community.”
The film selection process is a team effort. The three took different films and reached a consensus of what films were going to be chosen.
“We watch about 30 to 40 films in the summer and try to pick from different genres to have variety. We want the films to keep the audience’s attention and to display the French culture,” Rehfield said.
The festival has a wide array of people helping to make the event the best that it can be.
The French Film Festival Committee are volunteers from both adjunct and full-time faculty within the Humanities Division. French Club members have also been assisting in preparation for the event and frequently advertise at the quad.
“It makes them feel like they’re a part of the program. Because they are learning French, it helps the students feel immersed into French culture,” said professor Rinehardt-Zacair.
This year is the first where the event would be supplemented with food from French restaurants and bakeries. Their services are hoped to help sponsor the cost of the films.
“It’s an expensive venture,” Rehfield said. “We have to pay the distributing companies to display the films.”
In exchange, their logos would be put on the festival’s promotional flyers and their names advertised on the event’s official Facebook page.
“We want to be able to have enough money to put into scholarship funds for students,” said Rehfield. “We have three goals: to built community, a French program and scholarships.”
Point Blank, or “A bout portant”, is the first film to be shown on March 28. The movie, a thriller tale, is about a man who goes on a manhunt on the streets of Paris in search of his pregnant wife who has been kidnapped by criminals. His ability to trust the police diminishes as he finds himself in difficult situations.
Diplomacy, also known as “Diplomatie”, is a true story concerning the Nazi General Dietrich von Choltitz and Swedish diplomat Raoul Nordling. After the Allies land on French territory in 1944, Hitler orders the complete demolition of Paris and von Cholitz orders for the destruction of Parisian historical landmarks. Nordling attempts to persuade von Choltitz to stop him from carrying out the plan. The film will be exhibited on March 29.
La Chef, or “Comme un Chef”, will be shown on April 7. The film is about a recently unemployed chef who looks for work to support his pregnant wife. He finds an unpaid internship with Alexandre, a cook struggling to keep his restaurant afloat. Their friendship, though rocky, turns friendly in time because of their shared passion for food.
“Fanny,” is about a young woman who covers the shame of her illegitimate conceived pregnancy by marrying an older man. However, her heart is already set on another, who rejected her advances in order to follow his passion. The film is set to be displayed on April 8.
Ultimately, the goal of the festival is for people to be able to enjoy themselves while at one or more nights watching movies.
“We want the attendances to enjoy a different experience,” professor Rinehardt-Zacair said. “What’s nice about going to a festival than going to the movie theater or any other idea is that festivals bring a sense of community to people who feel like they’re a part of something.”
Ticket sales began Feb. 1, 2016, through the Fullerton College Box Office.
All movies will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Campus Theatre.
