New state-the-art-theater at NKU to Host French Film Festival | Arts & Culture

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky University announced today that it will host the Third Annual Tournées Festival of New French Films this spring, featuring another slate of five critically acclaimed regional premieres. The films include the latest masterworks by three of France’s most important contemporary directors (including two returning favorites from last year’s festival), a stunning achievement by a rising filmmaking star and the final movie from a legend of French cinema.

This year’s movies will be screened in Griffin Hall’s state-of-the-art George and Ellen Rieveschl Digitorium. With large screen digital projection capacity, multiple-speaker surround sound and stadium-style seating, the digitorium offers one of the finest digital projection facilities in the region. The Tournées Festival presents an excellent opportunity for community members to experience this important new addition to the NKU campus and the region.

The Tournées is a program sponsored by the French American Cultural Exchange that provides grant money for colleges and universities to host film festivals showcasing some of the best of recent French cinema. In 2010, the NKU Cinema Studies Program, along with the departments of English and World Languages and Literatures made NKU the first school in Greater Cincinnati/northern Kentucky to host the Tournées.

“We have once again chosen five exciting films that represent the diversity of modern French film in terms of style, genre and cultural focus,” said NKU cinema studies director Dr. John Alberti. “We are very excited to invite the community to enjoy these movies in the digitorium.  I guarantee attendees will be blown away by our new exhibition facility. We invite all film lovers to our campus to celebrate the continuing vitality and excitement of one of the world’s great movie cultures.”

A new film will be shown each week at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 7:00 p.m. on Thursday from March 28 through April 26 in NKU’s Griffin Hall. Admission is free to anyone with an NKU ID and just $5 for the general public. Each screening will be followed by a discussion led by an NKU faculty member.

March 28, 3:30 p.m. and March 29, 7 p.m. – La Belle Endormie (The Sleeping Beauty) (82 min.)
Trailer available at: http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/LaBelleEndormie.html

April 4, 3:30 p.m. and April 5, 7 p.m. – Inspector Bellamy (110 min.)
Trailer available at: http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/Bellamy.html

April 11, 3:30 p.m. and April 12, 7 p.m. – White Material (102 min.)
Trailer available at: http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/WhiteMaterial.html

April 18, 3:30 p.m. and April 19, 7 p.m. – Hadewijch (105 min.)
Trailer available at: http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/Hadewijch.html

April 25, 3:30 p.m. and April 26, 7 p.m. – Le Père de mes Enfants (The Father of My Children) (110 min.)
Trailer available at: http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/fichesfilms/LePereDeMesEnfants.html

The Tournées Festival was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the French Ministry of Culture, the Grand Marnier Foundation and Highbrow. Additional sponsors include the NKU Department of English, NKU Department of World Languages and Literatures, the NKU College of Arts and Sciences, NKU Phi Beta Delta and Cincinnati World Cinema.

For more information about the Tournées Film Festival, visit http://english.nku.edu/tournees.php or http://www.facecouncil.org/tournees/index.html.

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