The Hope College French Film Festival, sponsored by the college’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages, will show three films from Thursday, March 28, through Saturday, March 30, in the Knickerbocker Theatre.
The series will show “La passion d’Augustine” on Thursday, March 28; “Bienvenue chez
les Ch’tis” on Friday, March 29; and “Serenade for Haiti” on Saturday, March 30. All
films are in French
with English subtitles. Each will begin at 7:30 p.m.
“La passion d’Augustine,” showing on Thursday, March 28, tells the story of Mother
Augustine, a Roman Catholic nun who teaches music in a convent school in rural Quebec
during the
1960s. Augustine is fighting to preserve her school against the backdrop of the social
changes wrought
by Vatican II and Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. When her talented, but rebellious, niece
joins the convent,
and when the government threatens to shut down the school in favor of public education,
Augustine and
her fellow nuns are forced to confront the waves of modernity, and Mother Augustine
herself must search
her soul for a new calling.
“Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” will show Friday, March 29. In an attempt to please his
wife,
Philippe Abrams tries to obtain a transfer to a seaside town on the French Riviera.
However, after
attempting to scam an inspector, Philippe is banished to Bergues, a cold and inhospitable
town in
northern France. When first arriving to Bergues, Philippe has every intent to return
home to his wife.
However, as time goes by, surprising friendships are formed and Bergues proves not
to be as miserable
as Philippe originally thought.
Closing the series will be “Serenade for Haiti,” showing on Saturday, March 30. Filmed
over a seven-year period in Haiti, this documentary feature film tells the story of
the children and faculty of
the Sainte Trinité Music School. When a catastrophic earthquake destroys the school
in 2010, a stunned
and devastated faculty and student body must pick up the pieces and find a way to
adapt. The film
journeys into Haiti’s beautiful and diverse rural regions and ventures deep into the
streets of Port-au-
Prince both before and after the earthquake.
Tickets for the individual films are $7 for regular admission and $6 for senior citizens, and
free for Hope College faculty and children.
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located in downtown Holland at 86 E. Eighth St.