ILLINOIS

CHICAGO

Gastronomy
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:15 P.M.
Special Cooking Demonstration by Ecole Ritz Escoffier Chefs Didier Steudler and Christophe Pouy
Since its creation in 1988, at the heart of the hotel Ritz in Paris, the Ecole Ritz Escoffier is without a doubt the most famous school of gastronomy in the world. This prestigious school is an international reference for amateurs and professionals alike, training a new generation of chefs with teaching geared to the different levels and goals of its students.
Calihan Catering Kitchen - Alliance Française members: $60, General Public: $75. (Information/Registration)

40th anniversary of the events of May 68’
Retour sur Mai 68
France Chicago Center at the University of Chicago is presenting a series of lectures, films, and discussions commemorating the 40th anniversary of the events of May ‘68. Calendar of Events.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS - URBANA

40th anniversary of the events of May 68’
May 2 - 3:30pm: Lecture in French by author Olivier Rolin
Rolin has published works in fiction and non-fiction and wrote for the French daily Liberation and for the weekly magazine Nouvel Observateur. He also directed reports on among other things wars and conflicts. He is an editor for the French publisher Le Seuil and for the magazine Le Meilleur des mondes. Since 2007, he has hosted a series of conferences at the Académie de France in Rome, at the Villa Médicis. His work is filled with references to May 1968 and the proletarian left while his many travels around the world (Argentina, Poland, Colombia, Lebanon, Tchad, Afghanistan and others) make up the core of his non-fiction work. Rolin won the literay prize Prix Femina for his book Port-Soudan, published by Le Seuil in 1994 and Tigre en papier (Seuil, 1992) was nominated for the 2003 Goncourt prize.
University of Illinois - Urbana - Lucy Ellis Lounge, Foreign Languages Building - (Read).

SKOKIE

May 17-18: 18th Annual Skokie Festival of Cultures
Since its inception in 1991, the Skokie Festival of Cultures has become one of the premier ethnic festivals in Illinois, attracting more than 300,000 visitors and dozens of cultures, all representing Skokie's tremendous diversity.
Please join us for this 'Tour of the World,' where you and your friends and family will enjoy two days of ethnic folk music and dance, a wide range of food, unique arts and crafts, international children's games, a merchandise bazaar, and dozens of cultural booths and displays. France is part of the participating country. Complete information.

INDIANA

INDIANAPOLIS

Until August 24, 2008: Exposition Paris Posters: The Art of the Streets
The posters in this exhibition, about 20 in all by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alfons Mucha, Jules Chéret, Pierre Bonnard, Felix Vallotton, Paul Berthon and others, document the early history of a thoroughly modern art form. Created in Paris during the Belle Époque—the period including the last decades of the 19th-century and the years leading up to World War I—they had to be simple, dynamic, eye-catching and distinctive. Indianapolis Museum of Art.

SOUTH BEND

May 22 to 24: Film The Duchess of Langeais (2008) Directed by Jacques Rivette
Antoinette is the Duchess of Langeais, a married coquette who frequents the most extravagant balls in 1820's Paris during The Restoration, where hypocrisy and vanity reign. Upon the handsome general, Armand de Montriveau's first meeting with her, he realized it was true love from that moment on. Flattered by his attentions, the alluring Antoinette orchestrates a calculating game of seduction, but she repeatedly refuses Montriveau. Despite his sincere romantic declarations, Montriveau's passion remains unfulfilled. When the humiliated Montriveau eventually seeks his revenge, Antoinette's love awakens. But it may well be too late for the star-crossed lovers. Notre Dame University - Browning Cinema

MICHIGAN

FLINT

Films at the Flint Institute of Art
May 9, 10, 11: Persepolis (France, 2007) directed by Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi.
An Oscar nominee for Best Animated Film, this is a first-person tale told in striking black-and-white drawings. The story concerns a rebellious 8-year-old girl whose life, and native Teheran, are transformed by the Islamic Revolution.

May 23, 24, 25: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France, 2007) directed by Julian Schnabel.
Unforeseen circumstances prevented us from showing this in March, so we’re trying again. From artist-turned-filmmaker Julian Schnabel comes an Oscar-nominated drama based on the true story of a journalist who suffers a stroke and must live with a body totally paralyzed except for his left eye. (Read)

MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS / ST PAUL

May 15-25: Minnesota sur Seine Music Festival : Musical Voyageurs in the Ttwin Cities
Originally presented as primarily a jazz festival, Minnesota sur Seine has broadened to include rock, hip-hop, Celtic, folk, world music, and other genres. The 2008 program will offer a broad spectrum of music while maintaining the festival’s primary focus: providing a showcase for collaborative performance and artistic experimentation between regional and international musicians specially French artists like : Raymond Boni, Benoît Delbecq, Christophe Rocher, Dominique Pifarély Trio, François Corneloup, Rap group La Rumeur, Noël Akchoté, Pablo Cueco, Jacky Molard Quartet, Trio Tony Hymas/Bruno Chevillon/JT Bates, Violeta Ferrer and Didier Petit.

Jacky Molard Quartet

La rumeur

May 24 through November 23: Pablo Picasso: Livres d’Artistes
Internationally celebrated as a painter and sculptor, Pablo Picasso (1998-1973) was also an innovative and prolific printmaker and book artist. His extensive graphic oeuvre includes more than twenty-five livres d’artistes, deluxe limited edition artist’s books featuring original prints. This exhibition showcases more than a dozen of Picasso’s greatest livres d’artistes, with texts ranging from Buffon to Tzara.
Gallery 369 - Minneapolis Art Institute - Free Exhibition. (Read)

May 28th: Concert electronica : M83
The Triple Rock Social Club- 629 Cedar Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55454

40th Anniversary of the events of May 68’
May 3: Lecture in French : Mai 68, le temps de l’Histoire by Emmanuelle Loyer
Graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Emmanuelle Loyer is Professor of contemporary history at Sciences Politiques, Paris. Mme. Loyer also produces radio programs for France Culture and has recently published a book focusing on the events of Mai 68 : Mai 68 : Dans le Texte, (Complexe, 2008).
Alliance Française de Minneapolis - Grande Salle - 113 N First Street. Complete information.

MISSOURI

COLUMBIA

May 7 to 13: 2 Films : Red Balloon + White Mane directed by Albert Lamorisse
Newly restored on 35mm and available for the first time in almost a decade, Albert Lamorisse's The Red Balloon remains one of the most beloved children's films of all time. In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon that seems to have a mind of its own. Wandering through the streets of Paris, the two become inseparable, to the surprise of the neighborhood and the envy of other children. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, The Red Balloon has enchanted the young — and the young at heart — for decades, and it will surely find a new generation of fans with this rerelease.
Shown with White Mane (Crin blanc) , an earlier film from Lamorisse. In the south of France is a near-desert region called La Camargue, there lives White Mane, a magnificent stallion and the leader of a herd of wild horses too proud to let themselves be broken in by humans. Only Folco, a young fisherman, manages to tame him. A strong friendship grows between the boy and the horse, but they must elude the wrangler and his herdsmen to live freely. Beloved by generations of French children, White Mane comes to North America in a glorious new restoration, featuring a new English translation. Ragtag Cinema - 10 Hitt Street.

KANSAS CITY

This exhibition will feature some of the most recognizable works in photographic history, by some of the most celebrated photographers. Thematically, the exhibition explores the relationship between photography and celebrity and the collaborative nature of this process: the willing role of celebrities in creating their public image. A broad range of works from the 1860s to the present will be on view, by photographers such as Mathew Brady, Edward Steichen, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Imogen Cunningham, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Arnold Newman, Andy Warhol and Annie Leibovitz. Neltson Atkins Museum of Art .

ST LOUIS

VISIT OF FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S. TO ST LOUIS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21: LECTURE FEATURING PIERRE VIMONT, AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE TO THE UNITED STATES on the theme: "Trans-Atlantic Relationships: Political, Economic and Military Cooperations". Presented by The Boeing Distinguished Guest Lecture in International Business/St Louis University. Complete information and reservation.

OHIO

CINCINNATI

May 10 through June 8 : Around the World in 80 Days By Mark Brown from the novel by Jules Verne.
24,000 miles. 39 characters. Five actors. Two fun-packed magical hours. Join Phileas Fogg on the world’s original amazing race. Via rail, boat and even elephant, Fogg must travel the globe in just 80 days or he will forfeit a fortune. But a snooping detective, a possible human sacrifice, a runaway train and even the will of Mother Nature all conspire against Fogg’s adventure of a lifetime, threatening not only his journey but also the heart of the woman he loves. This high-spirited, fast-moving and highly imaginative show is a hilariously entertaining comedy. “Witty in the extreme.” — The Los Angeles Times
Cincinnati Playhouse. (complete information)

CLEVELAND
May 30th through August 17th: Exhibit by French photographer Jean Luc Mylayne
Using birds as his primary subject matter, french artist Jean Luc Mylayne creates photographs that move beyond documentation to become philosophical meditations on the relationship between man and nature. This exhibition features approximately twenty large-scale color photographs of bluebirds, hummingbirds, juncos, and other bird species that live in Western Texas.
Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) - (Complete information)

Films at the Cleveland Cinematheque
May 24& 25 Boarding Gates directed by Olivier Assayas
May 30&31: Les temoins directed by André Téchiné
May 24: Mon cas directed by Manoel de Oliveira
(Read)

May 31: "In Boarding Gate" Olivier Assayas says more about what it is to be human-to desire, to fear, to be alone-than most filmmakers say in a lifetime. It reconfirms Asia Argento as one of contemporary cinema’s most fascinating creatures." -Manohla Darghis, New York Times
Wexner Center regulars may remember Olivier Assayas’s 2003 visit to introduce his cyberthriller Demonlover. His latest film, Boarding Gate, is set against an equally diverse international landscape and stars eroticateur Asia Argento as a sexy ex-prostitute forced to flee London after an S&M encounter with a former lover (Michael Madsen) ends in violence. Also featuring Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and music by Brian Eno
Film/Video Theater - Wexnert Art Center.

TOLEDO

Friday, May 16: Film The Gates
In 1979, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, known for their large scale art installations, proposed a "golden river" of 7,503 fabric paneled gates in Central Park. In 2005, that vision became reality. This documentary follows the couple's 26-year journey and reveals how they overcame countless challenges from city officials--and the design itself--to transform the winter darkness of the park into a garden of light and color.
Toledo Museum of Art. 2445 Monroe Street.

WISCONSIN

MADISON

May 17th: Concert - Stéphane Wrembel , Jazz guitarist "Terre des hommes Tour 2008".
The Brink Lounge.

MILWAUKEE