Beyond glyphosate: French vineyards shift away from controversial weedkiller

France’s wine industry can become “the first in the world without glyphosate”, President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday at the Paris Agriculture Fair. But is foregoing the controversial herbicide possible? FRANCE 24 spoke with vintners.

At France’s largest, if temporary, farm – the country’s annual agricultural fair, held at Porte de Versailles exhibition grounds on the southern rim of Paris – it was barely 10am on Monday and Xavier Martin was already enjoying a glass of red wine.

At a stand showcasing his wine from Irouléguy in the Basque country, the 58-year-old had just polished off a fried egg and a slice of grilled bacon. “Wine, I was born in it,” the fifth-generation winegrower says. A salon jury had just rewarded his 2017 Mignaberry rosé with a gold medal.

Martin, who gave up on synthetic herbicides 20 years ago, feels strongly about glyphosate. “We must keep our soils clean, just as we received them from our ancestors, to pass them on to our children,” the bearded vintner says.

“These grounds will outlive us. We must work to preserve them.” Continue reading “Beyond glyphosate: French vineyards shift away from controversial weedkiller” →

Bertrand Belin polishes the tour of his new album “Persona” in Le Havre

It is in Le Havre that the musician Bertrand Belin chose to refine and begin the tour of his sixth album. He then leaves on the roads of the hexagon with “Persona”. A personal album, imbued with literature and strange creatures.

A crooner’s voice, a dandy rock look, Bertrand Belin travels the planet of words and notes with an elegance both light and serious. With “Persona”, the singer remains faithful to a swaying score that kicks and invites to dance. That’s good, Bertrand Belin goes on the road of concerts with this sixth album. After the studio it’s in Le Havre that he tweaked the adjustments of the live. It promises us new but also older pieces.
A scene apart
For nearly fifteen years, the Breton musician has been cultivating a singular language. His linguistic delusions flirt with surrealist poetry. On stage, Bertrand Belin embarks the public, between improvisation and exquisite corpses.

“O time, suspend your flight” and let yourself go into the languid vapors dream the artist. These compositions, always imbued with melancholy, give their view on life, solitude, society. By choosing simple but fair words.

It is the pleasure of arranging, of creating with the minimum of words, the maximum of effect. This is my little “dada”!

Bertrand Belin

If 2018 has been written with a big A (two albums of the excellent Dominique A), 2019 starts with a double B.  Bertrand Belin launched himself in this new year . “Persona” was released on January 25 on the label Cinq 7, an appearance at the cinema in “My life with James Dean” by Dominique Choisy which he signs the soundtrack and ” Great Carnicores ” his fourth novel (POL editions), a once again hailed by critics.

Continue reading “Bertrand Belin polishes the tour of his new album “Persona” in Le Havre” →

Theo Lawrence & The Hearts LIVE at Hard Rock Café

Fin d’année royale pour Theo Lawrence & The Hearts ! Le groupe emmené par le charismatique Theo Lawrence, qui a sorti son premier et brillant premier album “Homemade Lemonade”, fêtait comme il se doit son intronisation au Hard Rock Café Paris avec un mini-concert exceptionnel – mini-concert organisé en partenariat avec Rolling Stone, OUI FM et InfoConcert. Revivez un des temps forts de la soirée avec les deux premiers morceaux joués par le groupe, “Heaven to Me” et “Never Let It Go” (4:57).

“My Polish Honeymoon”

Directed by : Elise Otzenberger
Produced by : Rectangle Productions
Genre: Fiction – Runtime: 1 h 28 min
French release: 12/06/2019
Production year: 2018

Anna and Adam, a young Parisian couple with Jewish origins, are about to travel to Poland for the first time. They are just married and technically speaking this will be their honeymoon. They will attend a ceremony in memory of the Jewish community in the village of Adam’s grandfather, which was destroyed 75 years ago. Adam is not really enthusiastic, but sees it as an occasion to spend some quality time with his wife, away from their baby boy. Anna, on the other hand, is both extremely anxious and overly excited about the trip to her grandmother’s country. She is hoping to reconnect with her roots and finally discover more about her own family’s history, which was always a mystery…

My Polish Honeymoon

Domestic abuse film ‘Custody’ sweeps board at France’s Cesar awards

“Custody”, a film about domestic violence and a divorced couple’s battle over their son, was the big winner at the “French Oscars” — the Cesars — on Friday, where veteran US actor and director Robert Redford was presented with an honorary award.

Released in France under its original title of “Jusqu’à la garde”, “Custody” is director Xavier Legrand’s first feature-length movie and took home four awards including best film and best original screenplay.

It also earned a best leading actress award for Lea Drucker, who plays Miriam, a brave but fragile mother struggling to recover after her separation and fighting to protect her son from his violent father.

“When we made the film in 2016, 123 women were killed by their partner or ex-partner” in France, Legrand said as he picked up his award.

“Since January 1, 2019, 25 women have been killed, which means we’ve gone from one woman every three days, as it was in 2016, to one every two days.”

The awards ceremony, the biggest of its kind recognising French cinema, is now in its 44th year and was held at a glittering gala celebration in Paris.

“I would like to dedicate this award to all the Miriams, all the women who are not living a fiction but a tragic reality,” Drucker said as she collected her statuette.

Source: Domestic abuse film ‘Custody’ sweeps board at France’s Cesar awards