Text: Joanna Bronowicka
Photo: Maciej ZgadzajDid you think you have to go to Rio de Janeiro or Venice to celebrate the Carnival? This year, forget these obvious destinations and join the Carnival celebrations in Paris! On Sunday, February 14th at 2.30pm, the Carnival de Paris procession will start from Place Gambetta, reach Belleville at 4pm and Place de la République at 5.15pm before winding up on the square in front of the Hôtel de Ville at 7pm. If you want to get into the festive mood the night before, at Cabaret Sauvage, Brazilian artists will bring to you the samba, pagode and batucada beats straight from Rio de Janeiro.
Celebrating carnival in Paris is a tradition that dates back to the 16th century, when the medieval tradition of the annual Feast of Fools was condemned by the Catholic Church and gradually replaced with Promenade du Bœuf Gras, the Fat Cow Parade. In the 19th century the Carnival parade reassembled as many as 400 thousand people, but in the 20th century it declined in popularity. In 1954, due to logistic problems, the tradition disappeared altogether from the streets of Paris until 1997 when local associations brought it back to life.
More on: Celebrate Carnival in Paris
Text and images: Sarah Braasch
Ni Putes Ni Soumises (NPNS), a women’s rights organization located in Paris, organized a protest on Monday, January 25th, against the burqa and in support of an anticipated parliamentary bill to ban the burqa in France. NPNS was created as a response to the egregious violence being perpetrated against the women and girls of the cités or
quartiers in the banlieues (ghettoized suburban housing projects
surrounding France’s major cities that are predominantly composed of
marginalized Muslim immigrant communities).
The burqa is a full body covering while the niqab is a face covering, which exposes only the eyes. The potential law to ban the burqa and the niqab in public spaces and buildings has been a hotly contested issue in France for many months. The Parliament has been investigating the matter, including the possible effects of a ban. Recently, France’s Socialist Party, the opposition party, revealed their intent to vote against any law banning the burqa and/or niqab in public.
More on: Ni Putes Ni Soumises Organizes a Protest Against the Burqa
Text: Cineuropa
The jury at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from May 12- 23, 2024, will be presided by US director Tim Burton, who follows in the footsteps of last year’s president, French actress Isabelle Huppert. The director, whose film Ed Wood screened in competition at Cannes in 1995, commented on his appointment with a mixture of humour and seriousness that is typical of his style: "After spending my early life watching triple features and 48-hour horror movie marathons, I feel ready for Cannes. It’s a great honour and I look forward, with my fellow jurors, to watching some great films from around the world. When you think of Cannes, you think of world cinema. And as films have always been like dreams to me, this is a dream come true."
More on: Tim Burton to head the Cannes Jury
On January 15, 2024 the international press will award the prestigious Prix Lumières to the best French and francophone films of 2024. The 15th edition of the Prix Lumières ceremony, chaired by TV5Monde journalist Estelle Martin, will take place in the Grands Salons of l’Hôtel de Ville. Like the American Golden Globes, the Prix Lumières which inaugurate the 2024 film prize season, are awarded to the best French and francophone artists by the foreign press correspondents based in Paris.
For a third year in a row, the ceremony will conclude the « Rendez-vous avec le cinéma français » piloted by
Unifrance. Organized by the Académie des Lumières, founded in 1995 by Daniel Toscan du Plantier and Edward Behr, the 15th edition of the Prix Lumières is supported by Centre national de la cinématographie, Unifrance, Mairie de Paris, TV5Monde, Syndicat français de la critique de cinéma, Société de développement des entreprises culturelles du Québec and Commission supérieure technique de l’image et du son.
You can vote for the Prix du Public Mondial for the best francophone film on the TV5Monde website.
The 2024 Prix Lumières nominees are:
More on: Vote for French Films Nominated for the Prix Lumières
Text by Joanna Bronowicka Matthias Langhoff finally returns to the
Théâtre de l’Odéon with his extraordinary interpretation of the most staged tragedy of all time. In Hamlet-Cabaret he has dissected Shakespeare’s play into sparkling and entertaining fragments. Surprisingly, in the dreamlike ambiance of an old cabaret resounding with absurd humor and vaudeville melodies, the original text reveals its full beauty once again.
Langhoff sits his audience at café tables in front of two asymmetric stages, where Hamlet’s friend Horatio becomes a female, Horatia; Ophelia is not a noblewoman, but a daughter of a public functionary; Prince Hamlet is played by an actor twice the age of his mother, Queen Gertrud; his uncle Claudius, played by an actor from Burkina-Faso, speaks with a heavy African accent; and a live horse makes several silent appearances on stage.
More on: Hamlet Cabaret Théâtre de l’Odéon
Sarah Moroz writing for VINGT Paris
Fabien Larchez, creator of accessories brand Meilleur Ami, capitalizes on the idea that your wardrobe should be your best friend, your asset. It's a great concept, to mix friends and fashion. Larchez has done just that: reaching out beyond his accessories line, he’s recruited friends from the fashion community in order to organize ROOMconnection. He's collected clothes from various mode-immersed industry types (buyers,
editors, models, etc.) that they no longer wear, be it because they
don't have enough space or they're
ridding themselves of pieces bought they in a moment of folly (it
happens). Lanvin, Pierre Hardy, YSL, Isabel Marant, Chloe, Prada are
amongst the names you just might recognize...
More on: Save the Date: VINGT Paris invites you to our Sale Privée
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