French Culture Month to be celebrated in Cuba

Image: Cubadebate.

Havana, May 8 (RHC)-- Under the motto "Women in capital letters" -- the seventh edition of the month of French culture in Cuba will be held from May 10 to June 4, on stages in Havana and the city of Santiago de Cuba.

According to Laurent Burin des Roziers, French ambassador to Cuba, the event will focus on the creation of women artists, proposing a French-Cuban reading of identity and gender issues, he said at a press conference on Monday.

She said that through a rich and multidisciplinary program, where music, dance, theater, photography, literature, illustration and cinema will converge, issues such as the challenges of environmental protection and social inclusion will be addressed.

Burin des Roziers said that the appointment of the culture of the Gallic country in Cuba is a way to strengthen ties between the two nations.

Solen Rouillard, cultural attaché of the French Embassy in the Caribbean nation, highlighted the inauguration of the exhibition "From small to big steps", by illustrators Amélie Fontaine and Léonie Koelsch.

The two creators will also offer workshops for children and teenagers and readings of texts in French at the Vitrine de Wallonie and the Alliance Française on Prado Street, he said.

Rouillard added that one of the most awaited moments will be the staging of "Marta en París", starring Cuban actress Maridelmis Marín, who narrates the little-known life of philanthropist Marta Abreu in what is known as the City of Lights.

The premiere of the play will take place at the Havana headquarters of the Argos Teatro company on May 27.

The cultural attaché of the French diplomatic mission said that there will also be screenings of films such as "Amin" by Philippe Faucon; "Tales of the Night" by Michel Ocelot; "Goodbye to the Night" by André Téchiné and "The Wonders" by Christophe Haleb, who will be in Cuba to offer a guided tour of the locations where the film was shot in the municipality of Regla, said the cultural attaché of the French diplomatic mission.

The event will be an opportunity to pay tribute to Anton Arrufat, writer and winner of the National Literature Prize of the Antillean nation, whose most recent book "The Domino Game and Other Stories" will be presented, said Marc Sagaert, general director of the Alliance Française de Cuba.

According to Sagaert, the tribute to Arrufat will turn into a literary cabaret, as there will be a reading of fragments of his new work and there will be live music by the Havana String Quartet.