THE 2007 French film(left) Les Chansons D’Amour.  RED-HOT(right) French deejay Didier Sinclair will be bringing his brand of house music to Manila.

THE annual “French Spring in Manila,” a three-month-long festival of events celebrating French art and culture, will start this week with culinary art and photography exhibits. French Ambassador to the Philippines Gerard Chesnel said the annual French Spring seeks to increase artistic collaboration between France and the Philippines through unique festivals.

He also said the Alliance Française de Manille has opened a branch in Cebu City at the Les Maisons des Ami in Cebu under Michel Lhuiller.

“The opening had a positive perception among the people of Cebu that only proves the Cebuano’s inclination to French art and culture,” said Chesnel. “We hope Cebu will be the next French center in the Philippines.”

This year’s celebration will be highlighted by a photography exhibit 100 X France that focuses on conceptual photography that began in Paris in 1839. The exhibit to be held on Thursday at the Ayala Museum emphasizes on both the art and science of photography.

French famous culinary experts Emmanuelle Becquemin and Stephanie Sagot will bring the Filipino audience on a journey through taste in the culinary art exhibit titled Deguste, to be held also at the Ayala Museum following the photography exhibit.

Famous French performing artists like Quatuor Diotima, known for classical music, as well as gypsy jazz artists Boulou and Elios Ferre are also expected to wow the Filipino audience in the months of April and May.

Meanwhile, French deejay Didier Sinclair is also bringing his hit house music such as “Feel the Wave” and “Lovely Flight” for a one-night performance on May 30.

French Spring events will also bring the much-awaited French film festival that has been drawing crowds of Filipino audience from all walks of life united in appreciating the “seventh art form.”

Olivier Dintinger, director of the Alliance Francaise de Manille, said French films have a unique character of storytelling that is able to touch the psyche of Filipinos, through imagery, romance, humor and the beauty of actors.

The films to be featured from June 5 to 15 include Les Chansons D’Amour, Paris and Un Secret, to be shown at the Shangri-La Plaza, UP Film Center and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Modern dance led by Hervieu-Montalvo will take the Filipino audience to a magical world through the show La Bossa Fataka. The extravagant and poetic show uses visual effects to tell of this journey into the world of J.P. Rameau, a composer at the court of King Louis XV. The show will be held at the CCP Main Theater on June 22.

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THE annual “French Spring in Manila,” a three-month-long festival of events celebrating French art and culture, will start this week with culinary art and photography exhibits. French Ambassador to the Philippines Gerard Chesnel said the annual French Spring seeks to increase artistic collaboration between France and the Philippines through unique festivals.

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