On Jan. 27, the St. Thomas University romance language department hosted its third ‘Franco-Ciné’ night at the Ted Daigle Auditorium.
Similar to the previous installations, they screened a French film for a diverse audience.
Julien Defraeye, an associate professor in the romance languages department, screened Persepolis, a film adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic memoir.
In her memoir, she reflects on her childhood in pre- and post-revolutionary Iran, her life in Vienna and her permanent move to France.
Defraeye said that he has been hosting the Franco-Ciné night twice per semester for the past six years, even though it became less popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Defraeye, these screenings aim to expose students to the French language, its culture and history. They also intend “to build a Francophone community on campus.”
The screening of Persepolis allured students learning French and professors such as Fariba Solati, who thought the movie was “incredible.”
Alejandra Baca, a third-year student from Ecuador, has attended every Franco-Ciné night throughout the academic year.
“It’s about showing people a different type of cinema and inviting others to take part in French culture, which can sometimes be overlooked by English-speaking culture, simply because that’s what you speak,” she said.
Baca said that one of the reasons she looked forward to this movie night was specifically because it was the adaptation of Persepolis, a book she loved when she read it in high school.
“It’s a very powerful book because it’s a very heavy subject and shows you life in that period, without making it extremely political and hard to understand.”
Defraeye shared a similar perspective on this movie choice.
He said when people learn history in Canada and the Western world in general, “the Iranian Revolution is not something that you hear on the news or that you learn in the classroom.”
The professor aimed for his students to engage with Iranian history while fulfilling his course objectives.
“It’s all about discovering different genres, different areas in Franco culture,” said Defraeye.
Although there were positive reactions to the movie, attendance at the event was low compared to last semester.
Defraeye said the department advertised the events on their social media and tried to draw more people by posting the event in the student newsletter.
“It’s only now that things are finally catching up after COVID,” he said. “A lot of projects were dormant.”
He attributed the low attendance to the winter semester decreasing student engagement and overall enthusiasm.
Baca also commented attendance might also have been low because “it’s about to be midterm season, so people are starting to get kind of busy.”
