Friday, December 6th at 7pm
For the month of December, we invite you to discover Youssef Salem a du succès by Baya Kasmi.
Synopsis: Youssef Salem, 45, has always managed to miss his writing career. But the trouble starts when his new novel becomes a hit, because Youssef can’t help but draw inspiration from his own, for better or worse. Now he has to do everything in his power to prevent his book from falling into the hands of his family…
Friday, January 3th at 7pm
To start the year 2025 on a high note, we offer a screening of Murielle Magellan’s La Page Blanche.
Synopsis: Eloïse finds herself sitting alone on a Parisian bench. Who is she? Nothing comes back to her. The young woman begins an amusing investigation into her life. What if this amnesia could help her find love and reinvent her life?
Friday, February 7 at 7pm
In February we offer you a screening of Je verrai toujours vos visages by Jeann Herry
Synopsis: Since 2014, in France, Restorative Justice has offered victims and perpetrators of crime the chance to dialogue in secure settings, supervised by professionals and volunteers like Judith, Fanny or Michel. Nassim, Issa and Thomas, convicted of violent robbery, Grégoire, Nawelle and Sabine, victims of homejacking, robbery and snatching, and Chloé, victim of incestuous rape, are all involved in Restorative Justice measures. On their journey, there is anger and hope, silence and words, alliances and heartbreak, awareness and renewed confiance… And at the end of the road, sometimes, reparation…
Friday, March 7 at 7pm
To celebrate the Francophonie month, we invite you to a screening of the movie Si le vent tombe by Nora Martirosyan.
Synopsis: Alain, an international auditor, comes to assess the airport of a small self-proclaimed republic in the Caucasus in order to give the green light for its reopening. Edgar, a local boy, engages in a strange trade around the airport. In contact with the boy and the locals, Alain discovers this isolated land and risks everything to allow the country to open up.
Friday, April 4 at 7pm
In April, we offer you a screening of En Roue libre by Didier Barcelo.
Synopsis : The crazy story of Louise, who one morning finds herself trapped in her own car, overcome by a panic attack as soon as she tries to get out, and Paul, who steals the car and kidnaps her in the process. The two of them embark on an eventful road movie!
Friday, May 2 at 7pm
In May, we offer you a screening of Un petit frère by Léonor Seraille
Synopsis : When Rose arrives in France, she moves to the Paris suburbs with her two sons, Jean and Ernest. The construction and deconstruction of a family, from the late 80s to the present day.
Friday, November 1st at 7pm
For the month of November, we invite you to discover La Combattante by Camille Ponsin.
Synopsis: Marie-José Tubiana, 90, is a retired ethnologist and Darfur specialist. Every day, she painstakingly collects testimonies from refugees to authenticate their stories and complete their asylum applications. Despite her age, she puts her knowledge and a lifetime of research into action. The fight of a life dedicated to others.
Friday, October 4th at 7pm
For October, we offer you a screening of Chien de la Casse by Jean-Baptiste Durand.
Synopsis: Dog and Mirales are childhood friends. They live in a small village in the south of France and spend most of their days hanging out in the streets. To kill time, Mirales has taken to teasing Dog more than he should. Their friendship is put to the test by the arrival in the village of a young girl, Elsa, with whom Dog is about to fall in love. Riddled with jealousy, Mirales has to let go of his past in order to grow up and find his place.
Friday, September 6th at 7pm
To start our new cultural season, we offer you a screening of Les goûts et les couleurs by Michel Leclerc.
Synopsis: Marcia, a passionate young singer, is recording an album with her idol Daredjane, a rock icon of the 1970s, who suddenly disappears. To release their album, she has to convince Daredjane’s heir Anthony, a small-town market vendor who never liked his distant relative, let alone her music. Between good and bad taste, popular and chic, sincerity and lies, their two worlds clash. Unless, of course, it’s love…
Friday, May 3rd at 7pm
For the month of May, we invite you to discover “Petaouchnok”, a film by Édouard Deluc released in 2022.
Synopsis: Deep in the Pyrenees, two close friends at rock bottom have the idea of the century: to lift themselves out of poverty, they’re going to launch a trek on horseback, a journey through the mountains for tourists in search of nature, silence and adventure.
Friday, April 5 at 6pm
For the month of April, we invite you to discover “Des hommes”, a documentary by Jean-Robert Viallet and Alice Odiot released in 2019.
Synopsis: Thirty thousand square meters and 2,000 inmates, half of them under the age of 30. The Baumettes prison is a story of misery, violence and abandonment, but also of hope. It’s a story with cries and silences. A concentrate of humanity.
Friday, February 2 at 6pm
For the month of February, we invite you to discover “La fracture”, a film by Catherine Corsini released in 2021.
Synopsis: Raf and Julie, a couple on the verge of breaking up, find themselves in an ER ward close to asphyxiation on the evening of a Parisian Gilets Jaunes protest. Their encounter with Yann, a wounded and angry protester, will shatter everyone’s certainties and prejudices. Outside, tension is mounting. The hospital, under pressure, has to close its doors. The staff are overwhelmed. It’s going to be a long night…
Friday, January 5 at 6pm
For the month of January, we invite you to discover “Les choses qu’on dit, les choses qu’on fait”, a film by Emmanuel Mourret released in 2020.
Synopsis: Maja, a coast guard in the Landes region, sees her worst nightmare come true: early retirement! Thierry, her husband, has already planned the campsite and mobile home. But the disappearance of a tourist puts the whole coast on alert: a shark is prowling the bay! With the help of her young colleagues Eugénie and Blaise, she jumps at the chance to take on one last mission.
Friday, December 1st at 6:00pm
For the month of December, we offer you a screening of “Petite nature” by Samuel Theis released in 2021.
Synopsis: Johnny, 10, stands out from his family and his tough neighborhood in eastern France. He’s sensitive, intelligent and interested in all sorts of things far beyond his years. With curiosity, he observes the ups and downs of his young single mother’s turbulent love life. Things change when a new teacher, fresh from the big city, takes charge of Johnny’s class. Mr. Adamski believes in Johnny and wants to open up a new world for him. The sophisticated young teacher also intrigues the boy.
Friday, November 3rd at 7:00pm
For the month of November we offer you a screening of “Quai d’Orsay” by Bertrand Tavernier released in 2013.
Synopsis: A graduate of the École nationale d’administration, Arthur Vlaminck gets a job as a speechwriter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Existing advisors don’t take kindly to the arrival of a talented newcomer who could become a competitor, but his abilities are recognized by the minister and, above all, by Maupas, the career civil servant who heads the department. That said, it’s not easy to find the right words to describe the ever-changing world situation and the Minister’s shifting reactions. Based on the graphic novel by Christophe Blain and Abel Lanzac, published by Dargaud in 2010 and 2011.
Friday, October 06 at 7:00pm
For the month of October, we offer you a screening of “Just Kids” by Christophe Blanc, released in 2019.
Synopsis: After losing both parents, Jack, 19, Lisa, 17, and Mathis, 10, are left to fend for themselves. As an adult, Jack can apply for custody of his siblings, and soon finds himself in charge – of his own future, but also that of Lisa and especially Mathis. Lisa leaves the city to settle in the South of France. Likewise, Jack decides to leave with his younger brother.
Friday, September 1st at 7:00pm
For the new cultural season in September, we offer you a screening of the movie “L’année du requin” directed by Zoran Boukherma and Ludovic Boukherma, released in 2022.
Synopsis: Maja, a maritime gendarme in the Landes region, sees her worst nightmare come true: taking early retirement! Thierry, her husband, has already planned the campsite and mobile home. But the disappearance of a holidaymaker puts the whole coast on alert: a shark is prowling the bay! With the help of her young colleagues Eugénie and Blaise, she jumps at the chance to take on one last mission.
Friday, June 2nd at 7:00pm
For the month of June, we offer you a screening of the documentary “Les Invisibles” directed by Sébastien Lifshitz, released in 2012.
Synopsis: Men and women born between the two world wars have nothing in common other than being homosexuals and having chosen to live it out in the open at a time when society rejected homosexuality. They loved, desired, and fought to be recognized. Today, they tell us about this rebellious life, divided between the desire to remain like everyone else and the obligation to invent a freedom to blossom.
Friday, May 5 at 7:00pm
For the month of May, we offer you a screening of “Nous” by Alice Diop, released in 2022.
Synopsis: A line, the RER B, crosses Paris from north to south. A journey inside these indistinct places that we call the suburbs. A mechanic in La Courneuve, the faithful commemorating the death of Louis XVI at the Saint-Denis basilica, a nurse visiting her patients, the memory of young deportees in Drancy, children, young people enjoying the quietness of summer, a writer in Gif-sur-Yvette, the follower of a hunting team and the filmmaker who revisits the place of childhood. Each one is a piece of a whole that composes a whole. A possible “Us”.
Friday, April 14 at 7:00pm
For the month of February, we offer you a screening of “Poissonsexe” by Olivier Babinet, released in 2020.
Synopsis: While Miranda, the last whale in the world, makes the headlines, Daniel, a stubborn physicist, tries to give fish the desire to copulate. Single and disillusioned, he is himself haunted by the desire to be a father and intends to treat this problem scientifically. The problem is that in Bellerose there are only 3 women of childbearing age, which means one chance in 6232,33 to meet the mother of his future children. However, one day, by saving a strange fish with legs from drowning, Daniel will learn to fall in love again.
Saturday, February 25 at 3:30pm
For the month of February, we offer you “Bonjour le monde !”, a French animated movie directed by Anne-Lise Koehler and Éric Serre, released in 2019.
Synopsis: 10 species of animals among many others are born, live and tame each other along a river… The great crested grebe fly to and fro its fishing territory, becoming invisible and doing the dance of the seaweed. The kingfisher in his journey to find a place in the sun… Made of papier-mâché, the delicate puppets come to life in stop-motion, in beautiful colorful settings, to tell young and old about the life of the fauna and flora of our countryside and make them aware of the preservation of nature and the balance of ecosystems. A work where puppets, sculptures, painting and animation reinterpret Nature, to make us rediscover it as we have never seen it…
Movie night : ”Joseph Zobel : d’amour et de silence”/ Meeting with the director Olivier CodolFriday, February 3rd at 7pm
For the month of February, for Black History month, we offer you a special evening revolving around Martinican author Joseph Zobel.
Synopsis: A portrait of the writer Joseph Zobel, born in Martinique in 1915, author of the novel “Rue Cases-Nègres”, today recognized as a major figure of the Antilles culture and literature. Without being reduced to a strictly chronological approach, it takes as its main theme the “nomadic life” of the writer, from which emanate all the thematic and poetic force of his work: the poor childhood in the rural world of the sugar cane plantations, followed by the years of study in a colonial society that struggles between the aftermath of slavery and the emerging modernity; the coming to France in the aftermath of the war and the discovery in Paris of the African and the Antilles intellectual scene; the experience of the Senegalese land and the installation in Dakar; the return to France, in the heart of the Cevennes, where he divides his time between three passions: literature, painting and the art of ikebana. This journey is first illuminated from the inside, since it is Joseph Zobel himself who, facing the camera or in voice-over on period documents, unfolds the thread of his memories, with great precision and a talent for storytelling. It also includes other points of view, those of family members, friends and readers: Aimé Césaire, Patrick Chamoiseau, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Edouard Glissant.
Movie night : ” Suprêmes” by Audrey EstrougoFriday, January 6 at 7pm
For the month of January, we offer you “Suprêmes”, a French biopic directed by Audrey Estrougo released in 2021 on the French rap group NTM.
Synopsis: At the end of the 1980s in France, while the police and young people from the suburbs clashed violently, some of them turned to rap to express their brewing anger. Among them, two young natives of Seine-Saint-Denis, soon to be known as JoeyStarr and Kool Shen, created the group Suprême NTM and became, despite themselves, spokesmen of a generation. Their growing success and notoriety will lead them to perform for the first time at the Paris Zenith in 1992.
Movie night : ” Mystère” by Denis ImbertFriday, December 2 at 7pm
For the month of December, we are offering “Mystère” by Denis Imbert, a family film inspired by a true story.
Synopsis: Stéphane decides to move to the beautiful mountains of Cantal to reconnect with his 8-year-old daughter, Victoria, who has been silent since her mother disappeared. During a walk in the forest, a shepherd entrusts Victoria with a puppy named “Mystère” who will gradually give her a taste for life. But Stéphane soon discovers that the animal is actually a wolf… Despite the warnings and the danger of this situation, he cannot bring himself to separate his daughter from this seemingly harmless ball of fur.
Movie night : ” Demain” by Cyril Dion & Mélanie LaurentThursday, November 10 at 6pm
For the beginning of the Fête de la Science, the Alliance Française Ottawa, in partnership with the Embassy of France in Canada, offers you “Demain” directed by Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent. Released in 2015, this French documentary presents ecological initiatives implemented in ten countries.
Synopsis: Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent went to several countries, such as the United States, India and France, to discover local environmental initiatives. Indeed, the documentary highlights many actions in different fields, including education or agriculture, in response to the ecological challenges of the 21st century. Nevertheless, the treatment of the subject remains optimistic and invites us to think of solutions within our communities.
Movie night : ” Rouge ” by Farid BentoumiFriday, November 4th at 7pm
For the month of November, we offer you “Rouge”, a French-Belgian drama directed by Farid Bentoumi released in 2020. The film is inspired by real events, including the red mud affair.
Synopsis: Nour has just been hired as a nurse in the chemical factory where her father, a union delegate and long-time company leader, works. While the factory is undergoing a health inspection, a young journalist is investigating waste management. The two young women gradually discover that this factory, a pillar of the local economy, is hiding many secrets. Between lies about polluting discharges, falsified medical records and hidden accidents, Nour will have to choose between keeping silent or betraying her father and getting the truth out.
Friday, October 7th at 7pm
For the month of October, we offer you “La Dernière vie de Simon”, a fascinating first French-Belgian feature film co-written and directed by Léo Karmann.
Synopsis: Simon, a young orphan, has an extraordinary power: he can take the appearance of people he has already touched. One day, his best friend dies in an accident, there are no witnesses… Simon decides to take his appearance and realize his dream: to have a family.
Friday June 24th from 7pm to 9pm
For June, we offer you the documentary film “Africa Mia” by Richard Minier and Edouard Salier. which traces the fabulous destiny of the first Afro-Cuban group in history: Las Maravillas de Mali!
Synopsys : Africa Mia is a journey in search of the soul of Afro-Cuban music. From the communist friendships of the cold war to today, from Havana to Bamako, we follow the footsteps of ten young Malians in musical training in Cuba, who became a founding group of world music: the legendary Maravillas de Mali. Fifty years later, this forgotten group is being resurrected thanks to maestro Boncana Maïga, its historic conductor.
Join us at AF Ottawa on June 24th at 7 pm to watch the movie in person followed by a discussion in French.
Movie night “L’homme qui a vendu sa peau”Friday May 20th from 7pm to 9pm
For May, we offer you the film “The Man Who Sold His Skin” by Kaouther Ben Hania, finalist at the Oscars in the category of best international film. A powerful Tunisian drama that crosses the world of refugees with the world of art.
Synopsys : Sam Ali, a sensitive and impulsive young Syrian, flees his country for Lebanon to escape the war. In order to get to Europe and live with the love of his life, he agrees to have his back tattooed by the world’s most sultry contemporary artist. As he transforms his body into a prestigious work of art, Sam discovers that his decision was made at the cost of his freedom.
Join us at AF Ottawa on May 20th at 7 pm to watch the movie in person followed by a discussion in French.
Alliance Française Ottawa recommend this film to an informed audience.
Friday April 1st from 7pm to 9pm
For April, we offer you the movie “La Fine fleur” by Pierre Pinaud, with the very talented Catherine Frot. A French comedy that tells with tenderness and lightness the portrait of a passionate and touching woman.
Synopsys : Eve Vernet was the greatest rose designer. Today, she is on the verge of bankruptcy, on the verge of being bought by a powerful competitor. Vera, her faithful secretary, thinks she has found a solution by hiring three employees with no horticultural skills… While almost everything separates them, they embark together on a most singular adventure to save the small artisanal exploitation.
Join us at AF Ottawa on April 1st at 7 pm to watch in person “La Fine fleur” followed by a discussion in French.
Free NFB screening for the Rendez-vous de la FrancophonieFriday March 25th from 6pm to 8pm
Screening of 3 short films proposed by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) for the 24th edition of the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie. The screening will be followed by a debate animated by Samuel Coeytaux, director of the Alliance Française Ottawa on the theme “Francophonie and Identity(ies)”.
”Samedi, la nuit” : is a short documentary narrated in Spanish by filmmaker Rosana Matecki with a bittersweet vision of aging and loneliness in an urban environment. Dance becomes a pretext for an intimate exploration of resilience and nostalgia.
”Histoire de sable” : Hyacinthe Combary’s Histoire de sable bridges the gap between African and Aboriginal cultures. In a world where values and traditions tend to disappear, a Quebec immigrant tries to reconnect with the tradition of his ethnic group, the Gourmantchés, and will follow the Aboriginal trail in Quebec.
”Si le temps le permet” : artist Elisapie Isaac dives into the heart of her origins and leads us into the boreal immensity, on the edge of the Arctic Sea, in the village of Kangiqsujuaq, in Nunavik, where tradition and modernity meet daily.
