From the telegraph:

The film, “La France change, ma région doit changer” (France is changing, my region should change) shows an eco-friendly house with solar panels on the roof, smiling schoolchildren and a mother hugging a little girl in a sunny garden.

A voice-over boasts about Mr Sarkozy’s achievements since 2007, and the benefits of living in France.

But the French TV channel Canal+ has discovered most of the footage was bought from Getty Images, and shot thousands of miles away in the US.

The family house used in the video is in Escondido, California – and UMP party bosses even failed to spot that a car parked outside it has US number plates. The class of happy schoolchildren from a mix of ethnic backgrounds live in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. And the mother with her child in the garden is really in..

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I didn’t even know Strasbourg HAD a 10-day  international film festival. Of course, this is only their second year but it’s definitely worth a mention. (Thanks, Sophie)

The Strasbourg International Film Festival is an alternative, cutting-edge discovery film festival showcasing independent film from around the world mainly focusing on the works of new and emerging filmmakers, held annually. Presenting 50 feature films and over 150 short films, the Strasbourg International Film Festival works to empower and assist independent filmmakers while bringing audiences a uniquely rich and cultural filmic experience they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience and embrace.

Here’s the press release for the event:

Strasbourg, France – The Strasbourg International Film Festival presents feature films selected to screen in the following categories – Drama, Post Modern Drama, Culturally-Inclined Drama, Dramedy, Romantic Comedy, Psychological Thriller, SciFi-Fantasy-Horror, Experimental, Animation and Documentary . The 2009 Strasbourg International FIlm Festival runs August 28 through Sept 6 in Strasbourg, France and Kehl, Germany.

For the 2009 Strasbourg International FIlm Festival 50 feature-length films were selected including 11 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, 11 European Premieres, 3 Mainland European Premieres, 8 French Premieres, and 3 Strasbourg Premieres representing 37 countries with 31 first-time filmmakers.

The films screening in DRAMA are:

Baghdad, Texas / USA (Director: David H. Hickey) 90 mins. – 2009 – While a Middle Eastern dictator is fleeing his occupied country his plane crashes on the Mexican Border. He is inadvertently carried into Texas by illegal immigrants. Struck by a truck driven by three cowboys, he is taken back to their exotic game ranch where they slowly discover his identity. International premiere

Bathory / Austria/Slovakia, Czech Republic, UK, Hungary, USA (Director: Juraj Jakubisko) 138 mins. – 2008 – Bathory is based on the legends surrounding the life and deeds of Countess Elizabeth Bathory known as the greatest murderess in the history of mankind. Contrary to popular belief, Elizabeth Bathory was a modern Renaissance woman who ultimately fell victim to mens aspirations for power and wealth. French Premiere

Bergfest (Without You I’m Nothing) / Germany (Directed by Florian Eichinger, 1st Feature) 89 mins. – 2008 – A weekend in the Bavarian Alps. 25-year-old HANNES meets his father after 8 years of separation in a little mountain hut. By the influence of their very different girl friends ANN and LAVINIA, the stage-director-father and his actor-son cautiously try to make a new start. A bold venture, leading all of them to an abyss of unforeseen cruelty.  French Premiere (more…)

An unexpected (to me) warning was issued on the radio today regarding tonight’s episode of Les Experts Miami. It has something to do with a very violent initial scene and France Inter suggested to parents that they not allow their kids to see it. I think if any kids heard the warning (which they probably didn’t because kids would not bother with this station), it would make them want to watch it even more – but I kind of appreciate the heads-up. Anyway, I’m not too much of a fan after watching it a little – Really horrible acting (actually the French dub actors are better!), same stories from all other police shows and just how many times can we watch that guy put on and take off his sunglasses? So bleh. Sorry, experts!

Generate your own set of questions and answers with Jean Pierre Foucault on Qui veut gagner des millions. This is a fun generator from Remixto.

Generate your own questions!

tags: france, french, who wants to be a millionaire?, generator

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Voila for your viewing enjoyment: An impressive and very well-made French animation called “Dans la tete” (in the head) that will grab your attention and hook you ’til the end. 6 minutes. In French with English subtitles.

Click on the image above or here to watch it.

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tags: france, french, french army, animation, dans la tete

Many of you already know that I love the French duo, Daft Punk, so I thought today was as good as any to post some of their music. This video is simply brilliant. No special effects, no varying shots, just fun, perfectly coordinated choreography and Daft Punk love.

Click here to see the video at youtube. [Thanks, J!]

Related: my other Daft Punk posts

tags: france, french, daft punk, daft bodies

Embracing the spirit of Halloween, here’s a little something about French horror movies from greencine (an excerpt). Yes, there ARE French horror films!

“…The French horror-meisters are after something more vicious, grounded in a sense of the actual possibilities of terror on the body and psyche…

8. Sheitan (Satan). A racially diverse and hip group of teenagers end a rambunctious night out in the city by traveling to the rural home of a beautiful girl they meet in a disco. It turns out the place is inhabited by her strange country-bumpkin family, lead by a grinning, delirious, and slightly menacing housekeeper, played with over the top relish by Vincent Cassel (one of France’s leading actors). As the city kids realize trouble may be in store, Sheitan builds an impending sense of dread that is offset, and made more unsettling, by a quirky, jittery sense of humor. The house is an effectively creepy funhouse filled with strange artifacts and odd angles, and the film plays like a French version of The Twilight Zone: we know something is dreadfully wrong but we are not sure what. It is intriguing fun to find out the answer, a combination of satanic ritual, family secrets, and unholy birth – even if by the end we are still not completely clear what exactly has happened. The last shot is a bizarre visual joke that is both memorable and very French.

7. Calvaire: The Ordeal. Marc (Laurent Lucas), a small time entertainer, makes an appearance at an old folks home, where he awkwardly fends off the advances of an older woman (a cameo by the most famous French porn star of the 70′s, Brigitte Lahaie). Back out on the road, beset by a suspicious set of circumstances, he finds himself stranded in a small town, where he winds up at a hotel with no other residents (always a bad sign!). Like Sheitan (without any of the lightheartedness), the film is a paranoid nightmare about being trapped in an otherworldly conspiracy, set out in the country where the world has been allowed to go mad. Marc’s own anxiety about sex, hinted at in the first scenes, becomes manifest in his increasingly surreal and threatening situation: it soon becomes apparent that the hotel-keeper, who really misses his departed wife, has deranged plans and affections for his guest, while the other male townsfolk spend their time trying to screw pigs, and eventually turn their attention to Marc. The entire place seems to be under the sway of some hypnotic torpor, in which suppressed (homo)sexual urges fester. This dynamic is brought to life most powerfully in an amazing bar scene when the men dance together as if possessed by a secret backwoods ritual.

6. I Stand Alone. Gaspar Noé’s first film centers on a lonely and disturbed butcher played by Philippe Nahon, whose bulbous face is emblematic of the tone of the new French wave – a mixture of cynicism, menace, and grotesquerie. He lives in almost complete psychological isolation, and the Boogeyman chasing him is the emptiness of life itself. In unrelentingly somber fashion, the smothering awareness of alienation closes in, embodied by a technique that Noe uses repeatedly throughout the film in which the camera aggressively moves toward Nahon’s grim visage in a series of jarring jump cuts. No violence happens in these moments, but the magic trick is that they are as suspenseful as most scenes in which blood is spilled. There is no mistaking the implication of Noé’s atmospherics, a bold cinematic play on the phenomenology of existentialism: it is reality itself that is frightening. The butcher’s psychological torture chamber finds a tragic catharsis in the finale, when overwhelmed by incestuous lust and guilt, he commits a horrible act against his own institutionalized daughter. One of the most upsetting things I had ever seen until Noé’s second film (see bottom of the list).

5. Them (a.k.a. Ils) (Them). A couple vacationing at an elegant and isolated manse find themselves terrorized by faceless, seemingly purposeless hooded killers (roughly the same plot is found in the just-released American film The Strangers). The film is an exercise in sustained suspense, as the sanctity and safety of home is slowly encroached upon with eerie precision. The attack is made more unnerving because of its anonymity. In the end, daylight comes, sweeping away all the tension of the proceeding night, and the identity of “them” is revealed. And a mysterious auditory cue for their menacing presence that appears throughout the film is explained by the most innocent of objects, adding to the creepy surprise.

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tags: france, french, horror movies, halloween

Though I’m not much of a fan of her music, I loved Vanessa Paradis in the excellent movie with Daniel Auteuil called, Girl on the Bridge, and I really like this recent photo of her by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott (photoshopped and all), which is featured on the November 2008 French Vogue Magazine Cover.

tags: france, french, vanessa paradis, vogue france

From engadgethd:

“Apparently all that’s necessary to get a lagging country to hop on the high-def bandwagon is to talk bad about ‘em, or at least that’s the case here with France. After we heard that the nation wasn’t exactly rushing out to adopt HD, in comes word that four major French channels will soon be available in high-definition on digital terrestrial TV (DTT). TF1 HD, France 2 HD, M6 HD and Arte HD will all begin broadcasting OTA in HD on October 30th, and while all of these are already available on other platforms, we can only imagine that beaming ‘em out gratis will greatly increase HD awareness. Any other nations want to follow suit? Oh, and France, way to be a role model out there.” [source]

tags: france, french, television, hd

And to think that we JUST got broadband last week. I’m not kidding. The 2nd to get WIMAX installed in our region – but it’s not actually available to the public yet. Anyway. Back to Alsace. They’ll be the first to switch off their analog tv but all of France is scheduled to do the same. I bet our region will be LAST. Better late than never, I suppose.

From: broadbandtvnews:

“The Alsace region of France will be the first to see analogue television switch-off in late 2009, according to Eric Besson, the country’s secretary of state for development of the digital economy. Before the complete switchover, there will be three small-scale changeovers.

These three pilot changeovers are scheduled to take place in Coulommiers at the end of this year, in Kaysersberg, Alsace, in the second quarter 2009 and in the region of Cherbourg. The pilots will affect approximately 100,000 people and are meant to monitor any problems in the process.

After Alsace, analogue broadcasting will stop in Lorraine, Champagne-Ardenne and Franche – Comté. Also, in 2010 changeover will take place in the west of France, specifically in the regions of Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Basse-Normandie.

The majority of the freed-up spectrum will be allocated to “the services of the future of the audiovisual world,” said Eric Besson, especially for DTT-HD and mobile TV.

The French government plans the creation of a total of 11 multiplexes, with a coverage of 95% of the population, and two networks dedicated to personal mobile services reaching a potential 70% of the population. There will be room for 66 DTT channels.

The plan also assigns the entire band Band III (174-233 MHz), which will be released in late 2010 to digital radio.

At the end of July, about 57.8% of households were equipped for the reception of digital TV, with at least one receiver and 29.9% of homes completely dependent on digital.” [source]

tags: france, french, digital tv

The people over at gizmodo find the new cable box, “le cube” a lot more “stylishly French” than I think it is… I don’t find it stylish nor particularly French, except for the fact that it’s in France. I WANT to like it, but it’s not working for me. Anyway. More about it below.

From gizmodo:

“French cable provide Canal+ teamed up with touted OLPC and Jawbone designer Yves Behar to produce “Le Cube,” their new, ultra-stylish HD cable box with DVR and video on demand functions. Looking like a Wii all dressed up for a formal event, Le Cube blends simple geometry with simple colors to create something that’s visually striking.

But looks aside, this thing puts all of its interactive electronics and LED display into the black square portion of the box, leaving the rest relatively unscathed. It even comes with a remote control that matches the black and white motif. Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t mind moving to France just to have this in my living room. Le Cube will be available for Canal+ subscribers around November 4.” [source]

tags: france, french, cable box, canal plus, olpc, jawbone, le cube, yves behar

The French animated short, Skhizein, written and directed by Jeremy Clapin has earned several awards (The Cannes’ Kodak Prize for Best Animated Short, Animafest’s Best Film, Palm Spring’s 2nd Best Film…). It’s a story about Henri, a cute little guy who unfortunately gets struck by a 150,000 ton meteor. Luckily, he survives! Sort of. From that moment on, if he wants to move or do anything like answer the phone or sit in a chair, he has to judge his distance 91 centimeters (3 feet) away because he exists 91 centimeters from where he used to exist…

There will be a special night dedicated to the making of SKHIZEIN in Paris, where you’ll be able to see Jeremy Clapin’s first short, Une Histoire Vertébrale, followed by SKHIZEIN. Jeremy will also introduce the crew along with presenting the different stages involved in the making of the film.

Une soirée consacrée à la création de Skhizein – October 20, 2008, 7:30pm
LE DENFERT
24, place Denfert-Rochereau
75014 – Metro Denfert-Rochereau.
Admission: 5€
Website: Skhizein
Email Contact: jeremy@muiye.com

tags: france, french, films, skhizein, short animated films

This spot for a new Dominos pizza was on the other night, and it made me realize that it’s so France specific. You wouldn’t find the French La Savoyarde pizza (topped with light Crème fraîche, Mozzarella, smoked fatty bacon, potatoes and a very strong smelling Reblochon cheese) in the U.S. just like you wouldn’t find the very American Bacon Cheeseburger Feast Pizza in France.

I suppose you wouldn’t find the “Orientale” in the U.S. either, which is topped with some veggies and “double merguez.” See the French Dominos Pizza List versus the American Pizza List.

Another silly bit of trivia I found was that you can order Côtes de Provence Rosé, an AOC wine, at any of the 136 Dominos in France. Yeah, there are THAT many in France!

tags: france, french, dominos france, la savoyarde, pizza

it would look like Artus de Penguern!

While feeding my chronic insomnia a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to find this late night French movie that actually was not like the variety of French movies where someone (or everyone) kills themselves at the end by jumping out a window. Instead, it was a very silly one called, “Grégoire Moulin contre l’humanité” (Gregoire Moulin Versus Humanity). Of course, lots of people die in this movie too, but it’s all in good fun. In a nutshell, Grégoire Moulin contre l’humanité is black comedy that seems to take inspiration from Amélie, After Hours (by Martin Scorsese!) and a drop of Reservoir Dogs, mixes them all together in a nutty 90 minute film. (Gregoire Moulin contre l’humanité was released the same year as Amélie, just six months later.)

Watching the main character played by Artus de Penguern distracted me a little because he constantly reminded me of a pensive and anguished older brother of Robert Downey Jr. If de Penguern looks familiar, you might remember him from his role as Hipolito, the failed writer in Amélie.

Related: Another celebrity mating

tags: france, french, Artus de Penguern, Grégoire Moulin contre l’humanité, Gregoire Moulin Versus Humanity, Martin Scorsese, Robert Downey Jr., Amelie, Reservoir Dogs

From AP:

“France’s broadcast authority has banned French channels from marketing TV shows to children under 3 years old, to shield them from developmental risks it says television viewing poses at that age.

The three companies behind BabyFirstTV are Regency Enterprises, a film and TV production company that is a partner of News Corp.’s Fox Entertainment; Kardan N.V., an investment group based in the Netherlands and Israel; and Bellco Capital, a private Los Angeles-based investment fund.”

tags: france, television, france bans tv for babies, baby first tv, baby tv

The life of animals according to man. Funny French vignettes here. (You don’t need to know how to speak French to understand these.)

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tags: france, La vie des animaux selon les hommes, comedy, skits, french

Depending on your outlook on this reality TV show that mixes Big Brother with a huge chunk of Schoolhouse Karaoke, you may or may not be thrilled that the popular program is moving from Le château de Dammarie-Les-Lys, outside of Paris – to l’hôtel de Brossier, rue Charlot in Le Marais. Oui, en centreville!

The neighborhood is not amused.

tags: france reality tv star academy le marais hôtel de Brossier

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^{I am aware of the air beneath me.}

In the U.S. when Jean-Claude Van Damme comes to mind, people will likely know who he is but it would invoke a high level of indifference. Most consider him a hasbeen, action-martial arts-actor who can do the splits. For the last 10 years or so, he’s made only direct-to-DVD movies, that even Jean-Claude Van Damme himself has called, “rotten.” He’s made back-to-back film stinkers but has still managed to make a name for himself. Maybe it was due to his flexibility, pecs and abs, and those famous “splits”? I wonder if he can still do those… Anyway. Because of the string of lackluster films and for his “wooden” acting (and no, I’m not talking about THAT video), he basically goes almost unnoticed. “Almost” because most people still recognize him. Remember the episode of him playing himself in Friends where he boasts he can crush a walnut with his butt cheeks?

That certain Friends episode just cracks open the surface of how the French perceive Jean-Claude.

In France, people see Jean-Claude Van Damme (who is Belgian, by the way) very, very differently compared to the U.S. He is a bit of a cult hero, not necessarily for his high kicks in cheesy B movies, but rather for his aphorisms that are inadvertently funny. He is hilarious and the French LOVE to make fun of him and the way he expresses himself in “franglais” – and they will NEVER, ever, let him forget anything he’s ever said that made them laugh. This is not to say they do it in a derisive manner, because while they do, in fact, mock him, they do it lightly and in a positive way, and despite the mockery, they find him unique and lovable.

Why? It’s sort of like this: JC says things that are like a cross between Yogi Berra’s quotes (“Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded” or “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical”) and “deep thoughts” from Jack Handy (“It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.”).

Since French TV is a lot about talk shows, you will find that you have a chance to see celebs up close and personal on all kinds of levels, and not just hear someone trying to plug their latest movie. That might be why JC isn’t seen the same way in the U.S. He simply hasn’t gotten enough on-air talk time to express his true self on English-speaking TV! I’m sure he’d say funny things in English, given the opportunity.

The most famous quote (that every French or French-speaking person is aware of) involves the theme of observation (insight), and JC talks about being aware using the word “aware” instead of the correct word in French (conscient), which throws the French into uncontrollable fits of laughter every time. I remember hearing another one from him where he says, “one plus one equals two but it could equal 11″ or something along those lines, and another where he remarks that if air was removed from the sky, birds would fall and so would planes.

He’s likable. He’s silly. Tout simplement. Just much sillier when he’s speaking French.

Knowing all of this about him now makes me appreciate him so much more and I am dying to see his new film called, JCVD, which is playing in theaters in France. It’s him playing himself but the movie is a fictional comedy. The teaser and trailer are hilarious, (The subtitles on the teaser are not that good, however.) and I think the movie is going to be great.

So. There you have it: why the French love JCVD so much. Well, they can’t continue the love for Jerry Lewis forever, can they? Maybe it’s time for someone new.

tags: france jean claude van damme jcvd aware

The Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris is climbing on the SATC bandwagon and giving you the opportunity to step into the shoes of Carrie Bradshaw for the time of your fictitious TV life with an ultra-glamorous offer. Here’s what you get:

• A Cosmopolitan cocktail “Carrie’s favourite drink” for each person, served at Le Bar du Plaza Athénée.
• A chocolate shoe made by our World Champion Pastry Chef Christophe Michalak.
• Carrie’s “Must have” shopping booklet “All is about shoes”, listing the leading footwear names found on avenue Montaigne. Thanks to a VIP contact in each boutique, you will enjoy a personalised welcome.

For an additionnal fee of €1000, have a custom-made pair of shoes created by you with the help of a designer. The shoes are hand-made in four weeks and delivered to your home address.

2008 Rates
Based on a two-night minimum stay, double occupancy, including daily American breakfast:

Please note that the offer is subject to availability.

Deluxe Room € 810 / € 880
Junior Suite € 925 / 1030 €
Deluxe Suite € 1 700 / 2 300 €
Prestige Suite € 2 900 / 3 600 €
Presidential Suite € 3 810 / 4 800 €
Rates understood per night. VAT included.
Exclusive of Paris City tax: 1.50 Euro per person/day.
Subject to availability.

Toll-free Telephone Numbers: From France: 00 800 344 344 00; From US: 1 800 650 1842; From UK: 00 800 344 344 00; Australia: 1 800 686 054; Canada: 1 800 650 1842;

More information: Sex and the The City Hotel Offer

Related: hotels in paris

tags: paris hotels france paris hotel plaza athenee sex and the city travel for shoe fanatics

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From applegazette:

“Apple announced today that television programming is finally coming to iTunes France. Top French networks like TF1, France Télévisions, Arte, Mediatoon’s Dargaud TV and Dupuis TV and US shows from The Walt Disney Company and MTV Networks are all available in the iTunes Store in France now.

Apple, again, shows us that they are moving to the variable price model. Television shows are priced at €1.49, €1.99 and €2.49 per episode.”

This fun and kooky scopitone is from the 60s and is called, “Comic Strip” featuring Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. From what I can tell, Serge is beckoning Brigitte to come into his comic strip for some serious SHEBAM! POW! BLOP! and WHIZZZZ!

Click on the image to see the video at YouTube.

There are three new public service announcement videos just released by the Ministry of Employment that are pretty creepy, albeit effective. They’re aiming to encourage people to take care of health problems like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries related to work before they become debilitating.

All three start with an agonizingly LONG and PAINFUL, moan. Then you see why. EW!

Here’s what the PSA’s say:

Au travail il y a des petites douleurs qui deviennent insupportables.
At work, there are little aches that become unbearable.

Troubles Musculo-squelettiques.
Muscular Skeletal Pain

Parlons en pour les faire reculer.
Let’s talk about it to make it better.

Watch the videos here

Lumiere Technology digitized the Mona Lisa and describes the process.

Watch the video

Tags: paris, france, mona+lisa, louvre, art, videos, digitzing

From electronista:

“France-based Carrefour Group will launch a movie download service, the world’s second biggest retailer announced at the PEVE Digital Entertainment conference in Paris on Friday. The service will allow customers to buy movies or rent movies and rent TV programs. The Group already operates supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores that carry DVDs in Europe, and wants to expand its focus on entertainment, bringing it closer to customers.
Carrefour’s international non-food chief, Christophe Geoffroy, said the shopping experience would be simple and fast, with downloads taking about 3 minutes, suggesting a possible streaming experience. He went on to say video-on-demand market in Europe isn’t great, but is expected to grow. Some analysts predict Europe’s movie download market will be worth over about 690 Euros (over $1 billion) by 2011.

Carrefour isn’t the only or the first major retailer to seize the opportunity, as earlier this week, British retailer and grocer Tesco opened its own music and video site, with a larger focus on MP3 album and singles sales.

The group would continue to sell DVD videos at its current stores throughout France, Spain, Belgium and Italy, of which it has a 13.3% market share. Pricing for its downloads, nor a launch date, have yet been announced.”

This is a recent television spot (commercial) that cracked me up a little but I won’t spoil it by telling you what it’s advertising. Watch it here (only 20 seconds). It’s not as funny as this one, though.

More television commercials I featured:

My mom said I could!
Become a replacement smoker
Road Safety Campaign 1
Road Safety Campaign 2
Fun AIDS Awareness Commercials
Funny Ad from Renault
Orangina’s Animal Orgy
Deceptive Commercial in France
Setting bad examples on French television commercials
Keep your spit for tonight
French ads including posters