First French Movie

Thanks to NFAI, I Could Watch It

First time in my life, I watched a French movie a day before yesterday. It was a beautiful movie telling a story of two young girls with dreams in their eyes. Though I understand French a little, it was easy to understand the movie because of subtitles.

French films are screened in Pune time and again but I do not get a chance see them. For one reason or another, I have always missed the bus. This time round also, I could not go to the all movies because of office timings. It was a chance holiday on May 1 that enabled me to attend the screening. There was a motley group of about 100 people to see the film. Although, I doubt how many of them came out of the love of French language because as far as I could see, the majority of them were from Film and Television Institute of India.

The movie was a part of the French film festivals organized in Pune by National Film Archives of India with the co-operation of Embassy of France in India. La vie rêvée des anges, that was the title of the movie. The film festival started on May 1 and will go on till tomorrow.

Before the start of the festival, India and France signed an agreement to donate 234 films to India. The films are donated from the library of embassy of France to NFAI.

All these films are produced in France. An agreement to this effect was signed on April 30 at NFAI by Philippe Martinet, Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of France and Vijay Jadhav, Director, NFAI will sign the agreement.

This is one more time that NFAI will get a treasure of French movies. In 2003 also 88 films were handed over to NFAI by Embassy of France. Before that, Earlier, in 1998, the Embassy of France donated 29 films to the National Film Archives of India.

Under the agreement, these films will be preserved at NFAI. They will have non-commercial screenings, research and studies. An embassy press release said that the Embassy of France in India is committed to strengthening the relations between cultural institutions of our two countries towards achieving this goal.