#FrancePeachy #ParisPeachy @FIAFNY FIAF Announces March Programming: Celebration of 400 Years of Molière, plus CineSalon series curated by filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin
FIAF Presents March Programming
- Celebration of 400 Years of Molière with Theater, Talks, and an HD Screening of Comédie Française's Tartuffe
- CinéSalon: Our Love Affairs - Arnaud Desplechin Selects
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), presents a spectacular lineup of events this March celebrating the 400th year of legendary French playwright Molière. The three-part event begins with a selection of Molière's most provocative plays directed by Lucie Tiberghien, a conversation with acclaimed writer Adam Gopnik and Broadway director Erica Schmidt, and the HD screening of Comédie Française's historic performance of Molière's original Tartuffe, which has been banned throughout history since the day after its premiere in 1664. For FIAF’s March CinéSalon series, acclaimed French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin selected five films that have inspired his artistic vision and nourished his lifelong love affair with cinema. The 7:30pm screening of Diane on March 8 will feature an exclusive in-person Q&A between Arnaud Desplechin and the film’s director Kent Jones (former director of the New York Film Festival).
A full schedule of events follows. All times are ET.
Molière Turns 400
17th Century Paris Meets 21st Century New York
Directed by Lucie Tiberghien
Thursday–Saturday, March 10–12, 2022 at 7:30pm
Post-Show Reception on Thursday, March 10
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
In English
“When things look simple, don’t believe your eyes…”
Celebrate the 400th anniversary of Molière’s birth and discover the sharp social critique hidden behind his most famous comedies!
With a selection of staged excerpts from Don Juan, The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, and Tartuffe, director Lucie Tiberghien and a diverse company of actors remind us how unshakably pertinent these biting 17th-century satires remain today. The excerpts, translated by Pulitzer prize winner Richard Wilbur, are woven together by an original score which will be performed live during the performance.
Revel in old memories, make new discoveries, and delight in this contemporary reinterpretation of the work of France’s most famous author!
Creative Team
Directed by Lucie Tiberghien
Translated from the French by Richard Wilbur
Composer/pianist: Christophe Tiberghien
Set Design: Lina Younes
Lighting Design: Matthew Richards
Stage Manager: Madison Lane
Learn more here.
Modernizing Molière:
A Talk with Adam Gopnik and Erica Schmidt
Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 7pm
In Person & Livestreamed
FIAF Skyroom
In English
Acclaimed writer Adam Gopnik joins Broadway director Erica Schmidt in a conversation commemorating the 400th anniversary of French playwright Molière.
Adam Gopnik has written an introduction for a special edition of Richard Wilbur’s translation of Molière’s works, brought together for the first time by the Library of America in a two-volume collector’s set. His writing highlights the ways in which Molière’s shrewd characterization of society endures to this day. In her staging of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid and, more recently, an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway, Erica Schmidt has brilliantly modernized French classics for today’s audiences. Through Gopnik’s insightful analysis and Schmidt’s imaginative stagings, Molière’s work emerges in a new light with fresh relevance while retaining its biting wit and astute social commentary.
Presented in partnership with the Library of America, the talk will uncover the writer’s extraordinary literary and theatrical body of work that is celebrated throughout the world today.
Duration: 60 minutes
Learn more here.
Molière’s Uncensored Tartuffe
by Comédie-Française
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 7pm
HD Screening
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
In French with English subtitles
Recommended for Ages 14+
FIAF presents the Comédie-Française HD screening of Ivo van Hove’s visionary new interpretation of Tartuffe, which was broadcast widely across France in celebration of Molière’s 400 year legacy.
This US premiere gives audiences, a rare opportunity to experience the original banned version of the legendary playwright’s masterpiece, that outraged the Catholic church in 1664. Van Hove turns up the controversy, producing a modern new staging that pushes the boundaries of classical theater.
In his quest for Christian perfection, the wealthy Orgon has welcomed the devout Tartuffe into his home to be a spiritual guide for the entire household. But unable to resist temptation himself, Tartuffe falls in love with Orgon’s wife. Caught in the act of confessing his desire to the beautiful Elmire, he descends into hypocrisy, driving the family to the brink.
Ivo van Hove reimages the original version of Tartuffe, censored in 1664 by the King the day after its premiere and performed only once in its history.
Duration: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Cast
Claude Mathieu as Mme Pernelle, Orgon’s mother
Denis Podalydès as Orgon, Elmire’s husband
Loïc Corbery as Cléante, Orgon’s brother-in-law
Christophe Montenez as Tartuffe
Dominique Blanc as Dorine
Julien Frison as Damis, Orgon’s son
Marina Hands as Elmire, Orgon’s wife
Along with Vianney Arcel, Robin Azéma, Jérémy Berthoud, Héloïse Cholley, Fanny Jouffroy, and Emma Laristan
Creative Team
Directed by: Ivo van Hove
Dramaturgy: Koen Tachelet
Scenography and light: Jan Versweyveld
Costumes: An D’Huys
Original music: Alexandre Desplat
Musical collaboration: Solrey
Sound: Pierre Routin
Video: Renaud Rubiano
Make-up: Claire Cohen
Assistant direction: Laurent Delvert
Assistant scenography: Jordan Vincent
Assistant light: François Thouret
Learn more here.
CinéSalon Series
Our Love Affairs: Arnaud Desplechin Selects
For FIAF’s March CinéSalon series, acclaimed French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin selected five films that have inspired his artistic vision and nourished his lifelong love affair with cinema. From international blockbusters to lesser-screened films by cult filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Ingmar Bergman, all the films delve into matters of love.
The 7:30pm screening of Diane on March 8 will feature an exclusive in-person Q&A between Arnaud Desplechin and the film’s director Kent Jones (former director of the New York Film Festival).
Desplechin is known for his award-winning films Kings and Queen and A Christmas Tale. His new film Deception will screen at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Film Lincoln Center this March.
In Person: Tuesday, March 1 at 4pm and 7:30pm
Love in the Afternoon (L'amour l'après-midi)
Dir. Éric Rohmer, 1972, France, 97 min, DCP, color
With Bernard Verley, Zouzou, Françoise Verley
In French with English subtitles
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
Video introduction by Arnaud Desplechin
Though happily married to the adoring Hélène and expecting a second child with her, the thoroughly bourgeois executive Frédéric cannot seem to banish the attractive Parisian women he sees every day out of his mind. His flirtations and fantasies remain harmless until the appearance at his office of Chloé, an audacious, unencumbered old flame played by the mesmerizing Zouzou. Love in the Afternoon, the luminous final chapter in Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales, is a tender and sobering affair that leads to perhaps the most overwhelmingly emotional moment in the entire series.
Click here for more info.
In Person: Tuesday, March 8 at 4pm and 7:30pm
Diane
Dir. Kent Jones, 2018, United States, 96 min, DCP, color
With Mary Kay Place, Jake Lacy, Andrea Martin
In English
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
The 7:30pm screening will be followed by a Q&A with Arnaud Desplechin and Kent Jones
For Diane, everyone else comes first. With little patience for self-pity, she spends her days checking in on sick friends, volunteering at her local soup kitchen, and trying valiantly to save her troubled, drug-addicted adult son from himself. But beneath her relentless routine of self-sacrifice, Diane is fighting a desperate internal battle, haunted by a past she can’t forget, which threatens to tear her increasingly chaotic world apart. Built around an extraordinary, fearless performance from Mary Kay Place, this narrative debut from Kent Jones is a profound, beautifully human portrait of a woman rifling through the wreckage of her life in search of redemption.
Click here for more info.
In Person: Tuesday, March 15 at 4pm and 7:30pm
The Earrings of Madame de… (Madame de…)
Dir. Max Ophüls, 1953, France, 100 min, DCP, color
With Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer, Vittorio De Sica
In French with English subtitles
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
Video introduction by Arnaud Desplechin
The most cherished work from French master Max Ophüls, The Earrings of Madame de… is a profoundly emotional, cinematographically adventurous tale of deceptive opulence and tragic romance. When an aristocratic woman known only as Madame de… sells a pair of earrings given to her by her husband in order to pay some debts, she sets off a chain reaction of financial and carnal consequences that can end only in despair. Ophüls’s adaptation of Louise de Vilmorin’s incisive fin de siècle novel employs to ravishing effect the elegant and precise camera work for which the director is so justly renowned.
Click here for more info.
In Person: Tuesday, March 22 at 4pm and 7:30pm
The Touch
Dir. Ingmar Bergman, 1971, Sweden, 115 min, DCP, color
With Elliott Gould, Bibi Andersson, Max von Sydow
In English
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
Video introduction by Arnaud Desplechin
In his underappreciated first English-language film, a relationship drama shot near his island retreat of Fårö, Ingmar Bergman delivered a compelling portrait of conflicting desires. A chance encounter between seemingly contented housewife Karin and intense American archeologist David leads to a torrid and tempestuous affair, one that eventually threatens the stability of her life with a respected local surgeon. Upon its release, Bergman declared this emotionally complex and sensitively performed film to be his first real love story.
Click here for more info.
In Person: Tuesday, March 29 at 4pm and 7:30pm
The Age of Innocence
Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1993, United States, 139 min, DCP, color
With Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder
In English
FIAF Florence Gould Hall
Video introduction by Arnaud Desplechin
No filmmaker captures the grandeur and energy of New York like Martin Scorsese. With this sumptuous romance, he meticulously adapted the work of another great New York artist, Edith Wharton, bringing to life her tragic novel set in the cloistered world of Gilded Age Manhattan. The Age of Innocence tells the story of Newland Archer, whose engagement to an innocent socialite binds him to the codes and rituals of his upbringing. But when her cousin arrives in town on a wave of scandal after separating from her husband, she ignites passions in Newland he never knew existed. Swelling with exquisite period detail, this film is an alternately heartbreaking and satirical look at the brutality of old-world America.
Click here for more info.
About FIAF
The French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) is the premier French cultural and language center in New York. FIAF's mission is to create and offer innovative and unique programs in education and the arts that explore the evolving diversity and richness of French cultures. FIAF seeks to generate new ideas and promote cross-cultural dialogue through partnerships and new platforms of expression.
MERCI!
Molière Turns 400
17th Century Paris Meets 21st Century New York
Made possible with the generous support of The Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater
Opening night wine courtesy of Vin de Savoie
Modernizing Molière: A Talk with Adam Gopnik and Erica Schmidt
Presented by FIAF in partnership with the Library of America
Molière’s Uncensored Tartuffe by Comédie-Française
Special thanks to Comédie-Française and Pathe! LIVE.
CinéSalon is supported by BNP Paribas and Sofitel.
It is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Website: fiaf.org
Twitter: @fiafny
Instagram: @fiafny
Facebook: fiafny
