Film Festival: Not just for frenchies

Beginning on September 18, French Films will be shown on campus, in Pearce 332.

“The Film Festival this year is in conjunction with a French Film Course here,” said Dr. Amy Ransom, a French professor at Central. “I volunteered to offer additional films for students in the course.”

Last year, staple french films were shown such as Mon Oncle and Au bout de Souffle.

“It was very entertaining,” Jennifer Johnson, a French student at Central. “It was like a little movie theater.”

The lineup this year is placed in a semi chronological order of films throughout movie history in France, starting with La Belle et La Bête.

“We learned about a different culture,” Johnson said.

However, the films and the festival are not strictly focused on just French speaking students.

“We want to get students on campus to come visit and see these movies that we offer,” Ransom said. “We will play all the movies with English subtitles on so that we could raise that interest.”

The problem with showing films on campus is that advertising for the event has been limited. Dr. Ransom said that she has had trouble with figuring out how to get funding for posters but should be fixed soon.

“I’ve never even heard about French films on campus,” said Garrett Marcum, a communications major.

However, some students seemed willing to go upon learning about the idea.

“I might be interested in watching movies in French,” said Ryan Sthaniak, a Biology major. “I’ve only ever seen one or two films.”

Other students seemed weary of the idea because of cultural barriers.

“I don’t want to watch French films because I don’t watch to learn another language,” said Heather Zarb, an International Business major. “Besides, it’s too much work to read subtitles.”

The films are being shown on sporadic days throughout the semester, which was purposeful.

“Last year, we had issues with having a predictable date and time,” Ransom said. “We felt that if we moved the date and time around we could span a wider audience.”

Films being shown this semester:






For more information about the French Film Festival at Central Michigan, contact Dr. Amy Ransom at ranso1aj@cmich.edu