On Oct. 30, French students attended the French American Film Festival in Los Angeles. This immersive field trip provided students enrolled in French III Honors, Advanced Placement French and Advanced Topics French with an opportunity to experience and practice their French skills outside of an academic setting.
The French American Film Festival was founded by the Franco-American Cultural Fund in hopes of bringing various forms of French media to Hollywood. The festival began in 1997 and is considered the largest French film festival in the world. The film festival is unique in that it is solely for French films, unlike other French film festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival.
During their field trip, French students watched “Le Comte de Monte Cristo,” an adaptation of the novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” written by Alexandre Dumas. After the showing, students in the audience participated in a Q&A session with writers and directors Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, actor Patrick Mille and composer Jérôme Rebotier.
When asked about the reasoning behind this field trip, World Languages Instructor Laura Jensen highlighted the importance of enabling students to apply their language skills to experiences outside of the classroom.
“I think it’s really important because students can really see that their language skills translate to the real world,” Jensen said. “The most transformative experiences students have had are when they go beyond a classroom and can communicate with a person they don’t know.”
Students participating in this field trip generally felt similarly. Natalia ’27, a sophomore enrolled in French III Honors, thought the field trip was a great opportunity to practice French beyond the scope of a classroom with new faces during the interview.
“During the Q&A, many students were able to practice their French by asking questions in French to the creators of the film,” Natalia said. “And though there were subtitles, it was still really cool to be able to comprehend what was being said throughout the movie.”
Similarly, AP French student Rory ’27 talked about the language barriers that existed between the students and directors.
“It was really interesting to watch the Q&A and see people navigate a language barrier to discuss the film,” Rory said.
Although French students missed class that day, students and teachers alike enjoyed the opportunity to experience French in the real world.
