CLU hosts free French film fest

California Lutheran University has received a $1,800 grant from The French American Cultural Exchange to host a free French film festival.

"The Tournées Festival: New French Films on the CLU Campus" will feature five awardwinning movies in September and October.

The lineup features 7:15 p.m. showings of the following movies, all with English subtitles, in the campus' Preus-Brandt Forum at 60 W. Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks.

•"Stupeur et Tremblements (Fear and Trembling)," Tues., Sept. 25. From the director of "All the Mornings of the World," this 2003 film tells the story of Amélie, a dreamy young Belgian woman who arrives in Japan to begin work as a translator. Unfamiliar with the customs of the Japanese workplace, she commits a series of cultural missteps and suffers a string of demotions. This film won a French award for best actress.

•"Indigénes (Days of Glory)," Thurs., Sept. 27. This 2006 movie tells the story of North African recruits who fought on the Allies' side in Europe from 1944 to 1945. It won French awards for best screenplay, best writing and best actor. Rated R.

•"L'Ivresse du Pouvoir (Comedy of Power)," Tues., Oct. 2. Inspired by a 1990s scandal in France's stateowned gas company, this 2006 film tells the story of a magistrate, Jeanne, who is preparing a complex embezzlement case for trial. She jeopardizes her private life as she unravels schemes of politicians and businessmen and gains power and ambition.

•"Le Temps qui Reste (Time to Leave)," Tues., Oct. 9. A successful Parisian photographer learns he is terminally ill in this 2005 movie. The film won a French award for best actor.

•Le Plafond de Verre (The Glass Ceiling)," Tues., Oct. 16. This 2004 documentary examines the integration of immigrants in the French workplace. The film features testimony from immigrants who were not hired for jobs corresponding to their educational backgrounds and interviews with experts about the reasons for discrimination in France.

The Florence Gould Foundation, the Grand Marnier Foundation, highbrow entertainment, agnés b. and the FrancoAmerican Cultural Fund are sponsoring the festival.

"The Tournées Festival" is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the French Ministry of Culture.

For more information, call Karen Renick at (805) 493-3434, e-mail renick@callutheran.edu or visit www.callutheran.edu/events.