French film fest held at UH-Clear Lake

HOUSTON, September 24, 2009 — Fans of French films will get their fix when University of Houston-Clear Lake presents The Tourneés Festival beginning with the first film presentation Oct. 23. Five films running on weekends through Nov. 21 will include popular French films and will be available to moviegoers for $3.75 each or $15 for a festival pass.

“We’re excited about hosting this festival on our campus,” said Assistant Director of Student Life Andrew Reitberger. “The French film industry is producing some amazing new films that really aren’t receiving much exposure in our area.  We’re excited to be able to screen these at the university and we’re glad that The Tourneés Festival has made it possible.”

Films scheduled to be presented include the following:

* “Ne Le Dis A Personne/Tell No One,” Friday, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. – French Director Guillaume Canet offers this thriller starring Francoise Cluzet about a doctor who receives an e-mail from an unknown source eight years after the death of his wife containing a video of his thought-to-be dead wife in real time.

* “Roman De Gare,” Sunday, Oct. 25, 3 p.m. – “Roman De Gare” tells the suspenseful tale of a novelist crossing paths with a serial killer, two murders and a determined police force.

* “Un Secreta/A Secret,” Sunday, Nov. 8, 3 p.m. – A teenage boy discovers shocking family secrets in this film set in post World War II Paris.

* “Le Fils De L’Epicier/The Grocer’s Son,” Saturday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m. – Antoine Sforza is forced to leave his life in Paris to run his family’s grocer business in Provence.

* “Entre Les Murs/The Class,” Saturday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m. – Told in documentary style, the film offers a look at the present and future of France through the interactions of a teacher and his students in an inner city high school.

Although the first film will be presented in the Bayou Theater, subsequent films will be shown in the university’s Student Services and Classroom Building Lecture Hall, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston. To kick-off the festival, the university will host Café Cinema prior to the first film, 6:30 – 8 p.m. in the university’s Bayou Building Atrium I and will recreate a French bistro setting complete with French music, a coffee bar, pastries and more. Prior to each film, the university’s Foreign Languages Program office will offer a mini French lesson; although all films will be presented with English subtitles. 

The program is made possible with the generous support of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Centre National de la Cinématographie, the Grand Marnier Foundation, the Florence Gould Foundation, highbrow entertainment and the Franco-American Cultural Fund (Directors Guild of America, Motion Picture Association, SACEM & Writers Guild of America).

Tickets may be purchased at the door or ahead of the scheduled time in the Office of Student Life located in the Student Services and Classroom Building. For more information, call the Office of Student Life, 281-283-2560, or visit http://www.uhcl.edu/movies/tourneesfestival.