Marion Cotillard on global reaction to the US election: ‘Fear is winning’ 

Star of second world war thriller calls for artists to defend free speech, while her director Robert Zemeckis says the Trump years will be boon for TV and film industry.


“All the philosophers, thinkers and writers, who question themselves and the world, and who have the freedom of speech and freedom to express themselves, have to do it – for the ones who cannot.” […]

Read More: Marion Cotillard on global reaction to the US election: ‘Fear is winning’ | Film | The Guardian

French secularism: Anti-religious or safeguarding freedoms?

This week we take a closer look at France’s cherished state secularism. Laïcité [secularism], a product of French history and philosophy, is central to how France defines itself. But critics say it is anti-religious and increasingly used to stigmatise Muslims. Is laïcité compatible with a multicultural society?

We spoke to Jean-Louis Bianco, the President of the National Observatory on Secularism, to find out more. […]

Full Story: French secularism: Anti-religious or safeguarding freedoms? – France 24

 

Charotte Gainsbourg and Degas

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“I loved this exhibition. It was Degas’s monotypes – a very interesting process of printing – mostly of women, prostitutes, who were willing to pose for him. But it could become very abstract, with the repetition; he was interested not in the drawing as a result but in the accumulation in his work of the same subject. It was very modern for his time. Then you have the other part – it’s very hard when you know that someone was such a horrible person in real life, and such an antisemite. It’s hard to avoid thinking about it and focus on the art. It’s the same with so many other people, like Céline. But it was really worth going.”
– Charlotte Gainsborg / A Strange New Beauty at MoMA.

Photograph: Andrew Toth/Getty

Ballet Scene (1879) pastel | moredegas_balletscene

Charlotte Gainsbourgcharlotte

How to Plan a Tour de France Trip



Since summer is a busy season for travel to France, expect to pay a premium for tickets; Hopper has identified a “good deal price” as being roughly $915, if you’re leaving from U.S. East Coast airports (New York’s JFK, Washington’s Dulles, Boston’s Logan) and $1175 if you’re leaving from San Francisco or Los Angeles. […]

Read Full Story: How to Plan a Tour de France Trip – Bloomberg