Annual French culture spring fest offers a variety of events
The annual “French Spring” art festival, known for its “Long Night of Short Films” event and other interesting projects, will be held in Ukraine for the fifth time. This year the French Spring came earlier than usual – the recent Francophonie Week kick-started it – and will take place in more Ukrainian cities than in previous years. The program, which aims to present the latest trends from the French art scene, promises to be varied and original. The organizers of the festival, the French Embassy and the French Cultural Center in Ukraine, will present a number of interesting events: exhibits, concerts, movies, master classes, meetings, discussions and presentations.
The French cultural season in Kyiv will open with the street theater show “Moon Fisher,” performed by the Plasticiens Volants acrobatic troupe under the Druzby Narodiv (People’s Friendship) Arch near European Square on March 29.
Plasticiens Volants has participated in events like the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games in Barcelona, the “Chunnel Tunnel” inauguration and the centenary parade for the “Tour de France” in Paris. The “Moon fisher” show, created for the German city of Dresden’s 400th anniversary, will be adapted to for the Kyiv performance. The show, intended for a large crowd, uses mainly spectacular images that increase in intensity as the show progresses. The show is meant for a diverse public of all ages, both adults and children, and is played above the audience so that it can be seen by everybody at all times.
The festival will continue with the opening of an art exhibition and a meeting with French artist Yvon Taillandier, whose works are displayed at the Paris Modern Museum of Art –the Pompidou Center – and at the National Art Museum in Paris.
“The Ukrainian audience loves French cinema,” said Matthieu Ardin, the head of the French Cultural Center, at a press conference dedicated to the festival. Four French films will be shown as a part of a pre-premiere film festival at Ukrayina cinema, and will surely be appreciated by local movie fans.
On April 10, Norma Claire and her dancers will stage their show “Et Si on Se Parlait…?” (“Shouldn’t We Have a Talk?”) at Operetta Theater. Norma Claire has danced as a soloist in African and Antillean ballets, but mainly performed in France with the Ballet National du Senegal. African dance plays a significant part in her creative process. Through her dance and setting, she tries to convey the lack of communication in the world, and urges people to become closer to each other. In the same vein as Norma Claire’s previous works, the dance performance is based on expressions from multiple cultures, combining the Afro-Creole contemporary dance and hip-hop. The choreography’s dynamics portray the hopes of black women, the African reality and the existence of a Creole identity.
The play “Vesna” (“Spring”) by Gilles Granouillet, devoted to the Chornobyl catastrophe will be shown at the Youth Theater on April 18. The main character is the widow of a Chornobyl firefighter who becomes a tour guide to the fourth reactor, where the disaster happened on the day of her wedding.
One of the most anticipated parts of the festival, the “Long Night of Short Films,” will be held at the Ukrayina cinema on April 18 and 19. This year, 25 short feature films and animations will be shown.
A classic symphonic orchestra concert with the participation of Nemanja Radulovic (violin) and Laure Favre-Kahn (piano) will be performed at the National Philharmonic on April 23.
The last event of the “French Spring” will be the presentation of a book titled “Les Institutions du Sens” (Intuitions of Sense) by French philosopher and writer Vincent Descombes.
Druzhby Narodiv Arch
March 29, 7:30 p.m.
National Art Museum of Ukraine (6 Hrushevskoho, 278-7454),
April 3 and 4, 6 p.m.
Ukrayina (5 Horodetskoho, 279-6301),
April 9 to 12
Kyiv Academic Operetta Theater (53/3 Chervonoarmiyska, 287-2630),
April 10, 7 p.m.
Molodiy Theater (17 Prorizna, 278-7392),
April 18 and 19, 7 p.m.
National Philharmonic of Ukraine (2 Volodymyrskiy Uzviz, 278-1697),
April 23, 7 p.m.
French Cultural Center (104 Horkoho, 529-4157),
April 25, 6 p.m.
For detailed information go to www.ifu.com.ua
