For movie
fans who don’t speak French, going to the cinema in Paris can be a limiting
experience. Do you stick to films made in English, with French subtitles, or do
you brave the screening of a French film, with no English subtitles – hoping
you’ll at least get some of the dialogue?
Happily,
there’s another choice: you can go to the special events of Lost in
Frenchlation – a company that presents recently released French films with
English subtitles, and which now has a partnership with WICE.
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| Matthew Bryan and Manon Kerjean, the co-founders of Lost in Frenchlation. |
At these screenings,
spectators not only get to watch the films, but they also have the opportunity
to meet other movie-goers in a convivial atmosphere. That’s because Lost in
Frenchlation provides an added social component, enabling ex-pats living in
Paris to meet over cocktails after the movie.
Started in
2015 by French and Australian friends, Manon Kerjean and Matthew Bryan, the
initiative was born from the wish to be able to see the same films together.
“Manon is
passionate about film, but we could never go together to see a French film
because there were no subtitles in English,” Matt recalls. “The idea really came
when we couldn’t find a cinema showing a subtitled version of a movie that we
really wanted to see. And besides, we believe that French cinema is a part
of France’s culture, so it’s important to have access to this.”
The two met
as Erasmus (year-abroad) students in Berlin, Germany, in 2014 and developed the
idea for Lost in Frenchlation on Manon’s return to Paris, where Matt also lived
for several months -- he now shares his time between the French capital and
London. They said they decided to focus mostly on independent, art-house films.
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| Poster for Demain Tout Commence. |
If such
movies have been shown in international festivals, there’s usually a subtitled
version, and it is this that they work to obtain for the screenings. “We try to
show movies close to the national screening date, so that English-speakers see
it nearly at the same time as other cinema-goers,” Manon says.
Their team provides
two screening per month, in Montmartre and in the 10th
arrondissement, with shows in Paris’s oldest cinema, Studio 28. They’ve shown
films such as Mon Roi, the highly rated Divines – set in a Parisian suburb
– and the moving Réparer les vivants (Heal the Living), all of which had packed
houses.
On Jan. 6,
they will screen Demain Tout Commence, starring popular French actor Omar Sy.
The film, about a playboy character who suddenly finds himself with a baby that
he might have fathered, is a comedy as well as a tear-jerker, and it raises
relevant issues about the notion of family in contemporary society. Those who have
already seen the film in its original version might also gain added insight
from the English subtitles.
“We’re
opening up the world of French cinema to the international community in Paris,”
Manon says. “This is a part of French culture, and you can also make friends
while having a great night out.”
For more information and to book tickets for screenings,
see: http://lostinfrenchlation.com.