French film 'Persepolis' to be shown tonight
The French section of St. Thomas' Modern and Classical Languages Department invites the university comunity to a showing tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 28, of " Persepolis," the fourth film of the Tournées Festival, an event that presents French films weekly through Nov. 3 on campus.
"Persepolis," an animated film that begins during the Islamic Revolution, tells the poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl. Clever and fearless, Marjane outsmarts local "social guardians."
As a student in Vienna, she has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism she is trying to escape. Marjane endures the typical ordeals of a teenager as she continues to speak against the hypocrisy she witnesses.
The film will be shown at 7 p.m. in O'Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium on the university's St. Paul campus. A panel discussion will follow the film.
The films, which are subtitled in English, are free and open to the public.
On Monday, Nov. 3, UST's French section will show the final film, "Le Voyage du ballon rouge" (Flight of the red balloon), to be followed by a reception. A description is available at the Modern and Classical Languages Web site .
Since its inception, the Tournées Festival has partnered with hundreds of universities and has made it possible for more than 300,000 students to discover French-language films. The French section of the university's Modern and Classical Languages Department was selected as a host institution and recipient of a Tournées grant, which provides critical financial support.
The Tournées Festival is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture, the Florence Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation, highbrow entertainment, Agnès b., the Franco-American Cultural Fund, the St. Thomas Libraries-Media Resources Collection and the St. Thomas Department of Modern and Classical Languages.
More information about the Tournées Festival and the films can be found on the French American Cultural Exchange Web site.
Editor's note: Photo courtesy of New Yorker Films.
