Upcoming Events
o April 23rd – May 7th
52nd San Francisco International Film festival
The 52nd San Francisco international Film Festival will run from April 23rd to May 7th 2009. The longest-running film festival in the Americas, the San Francisco International Film Festival has built an international reputation for bringing the world’s finest films and filmmakers together with passionate and enthusiastic Bay Area audiences. Visionary from the start, the S.F. International has shown nearly 6,000 films from over 120 countries to nearly two million people and earned worldwide recognition as an extraordinary showcase of cinematic excellence.
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May 15th 2009
Mrs Nilou Farzaneh
Nilou Farzaneh’s interest in art became her passion at an early age while experimenting with painting and sculpture. It was in 1987 that she began to concentrate solely on professional painting. For Nilou, art is “a centering force to our hectic lives. I want my work to bridge the material and the spiritual, to sooth the soul and mind. It’s an expression of life that’s based on unique metaphors, harmonious forms, and deep compositions of color that are meant to reinforce our connection to nature.”
Her work has evolved from figurative to primitive and from expressive to abstract. Throughout her exploration, she has preserved her thematic inspiration while striving towards simpler and purer expression. She has produced hundreds of paintings across half a dozen periods, each maintaining a continuity anchored in her sense of color and texture; the power of her identity keeps her fully recognizable across the various stages of her evolution. She has exhibited in galleries in San Francisco and her paintings appear in private and corporate collections across Europe and the US. Nilou travels extensively around the world but considers Palo Alto, California as her home.
June 20th 2009
o French Music Festival: On June 20th let’s celebrate together
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June 19th – June 28th 2009
o 7th Sacramento French Film Festival
From June 19th to June 28th at the Crest Theatre – Sacramento -
The Sacramento French Film Festival is an annual event held in July. It celebrates the present as well as the rich history of French cinema featuring new releases and rarely seen classics. The Sacramento Bee described the Festival as “the Cinematic Highlight of Sacramento’s Summer”.
The SFFF opens each year on a Friday night with a catered reception followed by the opening film. Films continue all day long Saturday and Sunday for two consecutive weekends. Midnight movies are presented on Saturdays for mature audiences. The Festival ends on a Sunday night with an informal champagne cocktail following the closing film. All films are presented in French with English subtitles. Each film is shown either once or twice. Tickets are available for single films and passes are available for special events, one weekend, and for the whole festival.
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August 19th – August 20th 2009
o 20th Jazz Festival San Jose
Each year, the San Jose Jazz Festival brings the best of jazz to San Jose, the capital of Silicon Valley: during one weekend, more than 80 performances are featured on 10 different stages, offering all flavors of jazz, Blues, Latin, Salsa, R&B, electronica and more. The Festival brings to the capital of Silicon Valley international and homegrown favorites, jazz legends and rising stars. This Jazz Festival will run from August 7th to August 9th 2009.
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September 20th 2009
o French Heritage Day
Initiated by the French ministry of Culture in 1984, Heritage Days are organized every year during the third week-end of September, along one or two main themes. This cultural event shows French people’s interest for history of places and arts. The success of this event lies in the large patrimonial diversity available to visitors: masterpieces of both civil and religious architecture, parks and gardens, archeological sites, literary, industrial and military heritage as well.
Next year, for the 7th consecutive year, the Consul General, Pierre-Francois Mourier, will open his home again to the public to celebrate French Heritage Day.
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June 2009
o Mrs Brigitte Bize: June 5th 2009
Brigitte is a native of France; she now lives in northern California, where she raised her five children with her husband. She has been painting for over twenty years. Her work was shown in the Paris area, and can be found in many private collections. She now paints from her studio in Benicia, where she exhibits regularly.
www.brigittebize.com
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October 22nd – November 2nd 2009
o French Cinema Now
The inaugural French Cinema Now was an overwhelming success. In its second year it will bring the most significant new work from one of the world’s most renowned filmmaking countries to discerning Bay Area audiences.
Next year plans for the Festival are already underway and will extent to a seven days Festival. The Festival will present a diverse program which will cover a broad spectrum of subject matter and genres.
o Exposition Cappiello: Stay tuned
Whether creating an advertisement for fashion, liquor or food, the Italian born Cappiello (1875 – 1942) brought a sense of fun and laughter to every image he made. A self taught artist, he headed to Paris in 1898 to join other artists of his period. He immediately started painting caricatures for the French publication Le Rire. This precipitated a string of assignments with the French newspapers. In 1900, he signed a contract to do poster designs for the poster publisher Vercasson. Gradually his style developed so that his images were created using solid lines and strong flat color. His contribution to poster design contemporized this popular art form. Inspired by Cassandre and other well-known poster designers, Cappiello became involved with the poster scene in Paris. He became a naturalized citizen of France in 1930 and retired to Grasse at age 66, having fulfilled his dream to be one of Europe’s most celebrated graphic artists. He is now often called “the father of modern advertising,” because of his innovation in poster design.
