20th March 2008 - International Day of Francophonie

Half a billion francophones around the world will celebrate the International Day of Francophonie on 20 March. The first celebration took place in 1998 as a way for the 49 members of Francophonie to celebrate French language, as well as their common values and cultural diversity.

For this occasion, a free screening of short films (subtitled in English) will be held at the Sugar Club, on Thursday 20th March at 6 pm (doors open at 5.30pm), followed by a reception at the Alliance Française.

This event is organised by the Cultural Service of the Embassy of France in Ireland with the generous participation of the Alliance Française and the embassies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland.

International Day of Francophonie - Journée Internationale de la Francophonie
Thursday 20th March 2008
  SHORT FILM SCREENING at 6 pm (doors open at 5.30pm) at the Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson Street, D2
Followed by a RECEPTION at the Alliance Française, 1 Kildare Street, D2
FREE ENTRY subject to registration: by email to scac@ambafrance.ie or tel 01-7088308

(Please note: admission will be on a first come first serve basis as number of seats is limited)

PROGRAMME

  "ALL PEOPLE IS PLASTIC" by Harald Hund
(Austria, 2005, 12 min)

In the history of cinema the modern big city has often served as a screen onto which dystopian fantasies are projected: The idea of the urban space as a cruel, Moloch-like machine drove Fritz Lang’s sinister vision of the future, “Metropolis” (1927), in which the mass of slave-like workers is forced into the serfdom of assembly-line labour. Harald Hund’s 3-D animation film “All People Is Plastic” refers to both this image of the city as a machine of discipline and Jacques Tati’s criticism of the modern age, for whom “corporate culture” serves as a working world of enforced conformity. In the world of “All People Is Plastic” the figures have long been the result of mass production: Hund animated his figures with conventional 3D character-animation software so-called Default People (standard figures) and fit his matte-gray prototypes, schematized as either male or female, into the slots of a futuristic office world.

The film’s story begins on the weekend: The gray mass of standardized office workers pours into a monochrome urban conglomeration of cookie-cutter apartment buildings...

  "LES HABITANTS" by Raphael Balboni
(Belgium, 2006, 12 min 31 sec)

"They are going to extend the A23 highway that links the E103 through the N80. You’ll have to move your habitation." Nicolas, employee of the administrative section for the gathering of the departments’ cities, has to encode the "inhabitants" in his form.

  "YOU ARE IT" by Nikolay Moutaftchiev
(Bulgaria, 2007, 16 min)

Ina is a girl who is waiting for her graduation and farewell ball. Occasionally one night she meets in a discotheque the most famous boy in the school – Martin. Absolutely consciously he is going to drag her to 20th century pandemic – AIDS. This is going to provoke a series of events and different people where the virus is spreading as a children’s game – as a tag. You have time only to pronounce: “You are it!”…

August 2007 European Film Festival Alpinale Austria nominated for GOLDEN UNICORN

  "THE DANISH POET" by Torill Kove
(Canada, 2007, 15 min)
Can we trace the chain of events that leads to our own birth? Is our existence just coincidence? Do little things matter?

The narrator of The Danish Poet considers these questions as we follow Kasper, a poet whose creative well has run dry, on a holiday to Norway to meet the famous writer, Sigrid Undset. As Kasper’s quest for inspiration unfolds, it appears that a spell of bad weather, an angry dog, slippery barn planks, a careless postman, hungry goats and other seemingly unrelated factors might play important roles in the big scheme of things after all.

Oscar winner for Best Short Animation, 2007

  "THE DROUGHT" - "SUŠA" by Dalibor Matanić
(Croatia, 2002, 14 min)
This is a story about a girl, who will remain the only mobile human being on a distant Mediterranean island. While doing her best to preserve the life on the island, the details of her intimacy and emotions hidden many sea miles from our eyes eventually emerge… The Drought is the first of a sequence of short films that will comprise of six stories. Therefore, the film can be called “1/6” as well.

2004 Trieste, Alpe Adria Cinema - Special Jury Award
2003 Geneva Cinema Tout Ecran - Special Jury Award
2003 Cannes, Quinzaine des Realisateurs – Official Selection
2002 Croatian Film Festival – « Oktavijan » Award for Best Short Film

  "PAT & MAT" by Lubomir Benes, Ladislav Palka and Vlasta Pospisilova
(Czech Republic, 8 min)
Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and Mat. The show features the two characters that always get into problematic situations but they never give up, until they solve the problem in imaginative ways, using any possible and impossible tools and constructing gadgets.

  "CHANGE THE RECORD" - "PAKEISK PLOKŠTELE" by Kristina Buožytė
(Lithuania, 2005, 19 min)
It’s a humoristic fantasy about a lonely young woman who has very strong imagination. Living a dull and trivial life she finds her happiness only in watching old romantic movies. One day a very similar hero comes to her casual life and makes her dreams come true. However focussed just on her own desires, she did not notice real admirers around her. Here starts the fight between imaginary and real men.

  "FISH" - "ICHTHYS" by Marek Skrobecki
(Poland, 2005, 15 min)

FISH is a metaphoric film parable about the persistence of waiting, hope and fulfilment told in unique and unconventional manner. The main character is a mature man. He appears in a restaurant which interior resembles sacred building. He is the only client there and is greeted by the waiter with cherub’s face. The waiter takes the order and leaves. The client waits for his return… Time goes by making everything grow old. When finally, the ever-young waiter appears with ordered meal, the client looks like he is dead…

The Polish Embassy in Dublin decided to choose an animation film to be shown on the occasion of the International Day of Francophony for two reasons:

• Animation film art is extremely popular in France;
• In 2008 Polish animation celebrates its 60th anniversary.
  The title of the animation is Ichthys that in Ancient Greek language means fish. It was used as a symbol of Christ by early Christians.
  In French the film is titled Specialité de la maison, the title that was given by the organisers of the Quebec film festival.
  The camera that was used to record the film is a French camera, DEBRIE, made in 1934. This camera was first used during the World War II by the German LUFTWAFFE for taking reconnaissance photographs from spy planes. After the war the camera was donated to a Polish film studio in Łódz , helping to create the most famous Polish animation film studios, SE-MA-FOR. Ichthys is the last film the camera was used for.

Cracow Film Festival: Winner, Best Short Animation
Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival: Winner, Grand Jury Award
Ottawa International Animation Festival: Winner, Special Jury Award
Anima Mundi Animation Festival: Official Selection
Atlanta Film Festival: Official Selection
Annecy International Animated Film Festival: Official Selection
Palm Springs International Short Film Festival: Official Selection

  "CIGARETTES AND COFFE" - "UN CARTUŞ DE KENT ŞI UN PACHET DE CAFEA" by Cristi Puiu
(Romania, 2004, 13 min)
The bus leaves Mr Tomescu downtown Bucharest, in front of a restaurant. He enters and sits at the table where Vlad is seated. Mr Tomescu is in his early sixties. Vlad is willing to listen to the man’s problems during his lunch break. Freshly dismissed, just 2 years before time, Mr Tomescu asks for Vlad’s help to find him a new employment.

Golden Bear for Best Short Film in Berlin, 2004

  "IN THE BOX" - "V KOCKE" by Michal Struss
(Slovakia, 1999, 7 min)
"V Kocke" ("In the Box") is a short story about a puppet enclosed in a box and how the space in the box creates many obstacles and possibilities for him. With no way out, a ray of light becomes a beacon of hope

2nd Prize, 7th International Film Festival Trencianske Teplice, Slovak Republic
Special Prize of the Jury, Internationale Munchner Filmwoche (Munich)
Main Prize, Mediaschool (Lodz, Poland)
Audience Award for "European Student Films," Premiers Plans Festival d’Angers, France
Finalist, 27th Annual Student Academy Awards

  "CHAMBRE 24" by Andrew Katumba
(Switzerland, 2006, 12 min)
Monsieur Dutemps receives a letter from his former beloved one, Mademoiselle Fleurie, inviting him to meet at a small pension on the outskirts of the city. Although Monsieur Dutemps and Mademoiselle Fleurie both enter the same pension, they cannot find one another. Monsieur Dutemps’ desperate search culminates in a terrible discovery.