Francophonie Week 2021
The 2021 Francophony Week, rescheduled because of the public health crisis, took place from the 28th of June to the 10th of July, alongside the Respir(e)! Festival. Celebrated every year all over the world, this week is a way to highlight the richness and diversity of the French language and French speaking countries’ culture.
In Malta, several Cinema events were organised, with the screening of the movies My Donkey, My Lover and I in the presence of the film director Caroline Vignal, The Camino Voyage, Northern Wind – preceded by the Maltese short film Nighttime at the Station – and You will die at 20.
We were lucky to welcome Caroline Vignal, whose movie received no less than 8 Cesars nominations in 2021. She was able to present her movie and take part in a discussion with the public, following the screening. The film encountered great success among the participants and we are happy to announce that it will be rescheduled at Spazju Kreattiv Cinema on the 15th of September for the opening session of the French Film Days #5.
Caroline Vignal’s stay in Malta was the opportunity to organise a round-table about Women in Cinema, and compare the French and Maltese points of view. The other speakers for this round table were film director and screenwriter Rebecca Cremona (Simshar, the first Maltese film to be submitted at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film), Assistant Director Angelique Muller (Johnny-Johnny which premiered on the channel ARTE in March 2021 and will be included in our film selection next year!) and film producer Rebecca Anastasi (Luzzu, directed by Alex Camilleri, which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival 2021). This meeting was presented by actress Coryse Borg (Gladiator, Helen of Troy, Revelation).
This Francophony Week was also the opportunity to welcome Fabien Flori, mathematics teacher at the University of Corsica and former diplomat. He gave a talk at the University of Malta on Francophonie and the Mediterranean.
We warmly thank all our partners on this event, the Maltese Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the French, Irish and Tunisian Embassies in Malta, as well as the Spazju Kreattiv cultural center and cinema and the University of Malta.
The rendez-vous is settled for next year’s Francophony Week!