Course description:
For this advanced French course, you will watch a film at home (available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Canal Plus, Orange, YouTube and other platforms) before a lively and engaging discussion in class. Each week a new film provides a basis for an immersive lesson with authentic spoken language and cultural reference points. Watching films is entertaining and enjoyable which breaks through psychological barriers that can arise in traditional language learning.
If you love movies, there’s no more enjoyable way to increase vocabulary, improve conversational skills, and deepen your understanding of French culture. You can expect to view a wide range of films from the classic to the contemporary in many different genres. Here are the films under consideration for the fall trimester:
1. Mercredi 20 sept. Être et avoir (2002). Docu-film. De Nicolas Philibert. Avec l'instituteur, Georges Lopez et ses douze élèves.
2. Mercredi 27 sept. Marius (2012). Drame. De Daniel Auteuil. Avec Raphaël Personnaz, Daniel Auteuil, Jean-Pierre Darroussin.
3. Mercredi 4 oct. Le Mandat (1968). Comédie dramatique. De Ousmane Sembene (Sénégal). Avec Makhouredia Gueye, Ynousse N'Diaye.
4. Mercredi 11 oct. Chaos. (2001). Comédie dramatique. De Coline Serreau. Avec Vincent Lindon, Catherine Frot, Rachida Brakni.
5. Mercredi 18 oct. L'Odyssée (2016). Biopic. Drame & Aventure. De Jérôme Salle. Avec Lambert Wilson, Pierre Niney, Audrey Tautou.
6. Mercredi 25 oct. Le Cercle rouge (1970). Classique & Policier. De Jean-Pierre Melville. Avec Alain Delon, Yves Montand, Bourvil.
7. Mercredi 1er nov. Hors normes (2019). Comédie dramatique. De Olivier Nakache & Éric Toledano. Avec Vincent Cassel, Reda Kateb.
8. Mercredi 8 nov. Un sac de billes (2017). Drame. De Christian Duguay. Avec. Patrick Bruel, Elsa Zylberstein, Bertrand Campan.
9. Mercredi 15 nov. Il a déjà tes yeux (2016). Comédie. De Lucien Jean-Baptiste (Martinique). Avec Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Aïssa Maïga.
10. Mercredi 22 nov. Vincent, François, Paul et les autres (1974). Comédie dramatique. De Claude Sautet. Avec Yves Montand, Michel Piccoli, Serge Reggiani.
11. Mercredi 29 nov. Tous les matins du monde (1991). Drame.Biopic.Musical. De Alain Corneau. Avec Gérard Depardieu, Guillaume Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Anne Brochet.
12. Mercredi 6 déc. Chocolat (2016). Comédie dramatique. De Roschdy Zem. Avec Omar Sy, James Thiérrée, Clothilde Hesme.
A Zoom link will be provided the day before the course begins. Be sure to check your email for it.
About the Instructor
Valérie Satterfield grew up in Paris and moved to the US in 1981 where she lived for 38 years in New York City, Washington, D.C and Boston. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University. She has been teaching French since 1986. She taught adults with the US State Department, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Afterwards, she taught at private high schools in Manhattan. She has taught all levels of French including Advanced and AP classes. She returned to Paris for retirement in 2018 and has been volunteering with WICE for four years.
