Texas State hosts Tournées International Film Festival
By Lauren A. Lamb
University News Service
March 3, 2009
The Texas State University-San Marcos Department of Modern Languages will host the Tournées International Film Festival and Symposium, March 23-April 9.
Inspired by this year’s Common Experience theme, Civic Responsibility and the Legacy of LBJ, the festival will feature French, German and Spanish films that offer an intercultural view on civic responsibility.
Filmmaker and special guest John Carlos Frey will give the opening lecture on March 23 at 5:30 p.m. in the Alkek Library Teaching Theater. He will address civic responsibility in Latino films and a screening of his newly completed film, “1979 Miles,” will follow at 6:30 p.m.
On March 24, Austin documentary filmmaker Hector Galan will present "The Forgotten Americans," which he directed for Jaime Chahin, dean of the College of Applied Arts. The film will be shown in the Centennial Hall Teaching Theater at 2 p.m. "The Forgotten Americans" has inspired a photography exhibition that will be on display in the coffee forum of the University Honors Program and in the Department of Modern Languages from Feb. 10 until April 10. The exhibit also features the work of photographers Alan Pogue and Jason Reed.
Director Chris Eska will also show his “August Evening” on March 24 in the Alkek Teaching Theater at 5:15 p.m. following a series of roundtable discussions where participants will address the nature of political commitment in filmmaking.
The festival is made possible by a grant from the French American Cultural Exchange or FACE, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering French-American relations through the arts, education, and cultural exchange. FACE initiated a grant program for Tournées festivals in 2004 and since then more than $180,000 has been awarded annually with more than 300,000 students having participated to date.
In addition to the Department of Modern Languages, other Texas State sponsors include the Equity and Access Office, the University Lecturers Committee, and the Common Experience. The festival is free and open to the public.