Photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
(1) Belgian Ambassador Frederic Meurice (left) raps with the effervescent Claudja Barry Alexander. In the background are Senegalese Ambassador Dr Nafissatou Diagne (head wrap) and businesswoman Thalia Lyn.
(2) President of Alliance Française, Gilou Bauer (left), greets RBTT Jamaica's head, Minna Israel.
(3) Business stalwarts Adrian Foreman (left) and Maurice Facey exchange ideas.
(4) Experts at the French language, (from left) Belgian Ambassador Frederic Meurice, Senegalese Ambassador Dr Nafissatou Diagne, French Ambassador Marc-Olivier Gendry and Andrec Blouin of the Canadian High Commission, at the reception to mark the opening of the 2009 Francophone Film Festival, held at the French Embassy, Hillcrest Avenue, on Wednesday, November 18.
If French is really the language of love, between November 21 and December 5, Jamaicans can get all lovey-dovey at the 33rd Francophone Film Festival.
Hard to believe that this festival has not only survived but thrived in the island for over three decades and the turnout on Wednesday, November 18 for the opening at the French Embassy signalled that great days are ahead. This year, films from Haiti, Canada, France, Senegal and Belgium will delight, amaze and provoke much thought among guests to the annual festival. In all, there will be eight films spread over the two weeks.
The first film was Mon petit doigt m'a dit (By The Pricking Of My Thumbs), a detective piece. The rest of the films, as is customary with the fine works portrayed at this festival, are diverse.
Guests out for the opening and premiere included Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner Yvonne Gittens-Joseph, German Ambassador Jurgen Engel, Russian Ambassador Victor Zotin, Paul Issa, Nicole Hoo-Fatt, Jacqui Nielssen, Paget and Angela deFreitas, Carol Hart, Richard and Diana Stewart and Thalia and Michael Lyn.