French Consulate and San Francisco Film Society Celebrate National French Week with Screenings for Students

The Cultural Service of the French Embassy in San Francisco and the San Francisco Film Society are celebrating National French Week by inviting high school students from around the Bay Area to free screenings of the classic swashbuckler LE BOSSU (On Guard) by director Philippe de Broca. LE BOSSU will be shown at 10:00 am on Wednesday, November 5 and Thursday, November 6 at the Delancey Street screening room at 600 Embarcadero.

National French Week was initiated five years ago by the American Association of Teachers of French to celebrate French culture and language. In 2002 the Cultural Service began the screening program to encourage young people to step outside their routine moviegoing habits and watch more foreign films, in particular French films. This year 300 students from Abraham Lincoln High School (San Francisco), John O’Connell High School (San Francisco), Lowell High School (San Francisco), Head Royce High School (Oakland) and Pinewood School (Palo Alto) are scheduled to attend.

“The Film Society is pleased to collaborate with the Cultural Service of the French Embassy to expand our Schools at the Festival program. Each year, Schools at the Festival reaches out to over 4,000 Bay Area students,” notes Executive Director Roxanne Messina Captor. “The program provides a much needed forum for education, understanding and tolerance by addressing contemporary issues through the medium of film.”

For LE BOSSU (1997) director/screenwriter de Broca (KING OF HEARTS, THAT MAN FROM RIO) engaged a stellar cast, including Daniel Auteuil, Fabrice Luchini, Marie Gillain, Vincent Perez and Philippe Noiret, to bring the swashbuckling adventure story to the screen. The tale of intrigue, treachery, vengeance and romance is set in the early 18th century and features thrillingly choreographed swordplay directed with assurance by a veteran at the top of his game.