Comme une Française: What NEVER to say in French

Does that French word really mean what you think it means? That’s what we’ll explore in today’s lesson. I’m sure that you’ve heard or seen these French words and phrases before, and they DO belong in French vocabulary… but they are often misused by non-native speakers in everyday French conversation. In this compilation of some of my most popular videos, I’ll introduce you to 5 words that are commonly misused in French and explain why you should NEVER say them when speaking yourself. Let’s dive in!

Take care and stay safe. 😘 from Grenoble, France. Géraldine

French regions compete to replace Paris as wine ‘capital’

Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and Rome have all been making their pitches to be the new home of the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) after it announced they were leaving their Paris offices.

The OIV plans to settle into its new headquarters by 2024.

The OIV is one of the world’s most prominent wine organizations and has 48 member states, including most major wine-producing countries, except the US and China. It produces annual reports on global wine production and consumption.

Such an international scope gained the OIV the monicker “UN of wine” and its headquarters as “wine’s world capital.”

Mayor François Rebsamen of Dijon, where the OIV offices would be located if Burgundy gains the nod, revealed they have solid funding brought by the region’s support.

The decision will be finalized with a vote of all of the member countries.

However, it’s France who would choose which of its cities to propose for OIV approval.

Word has gotten out that the French government is leaning toward recommending Dijon.

A French government proposal for the location is expected to be made at the next OIV General Assembly on July 12, a spokesperson said.

The OIV member states are given a reflection period and may vote in October 2021.

Source: Econo Times

Actress Laetitia Dosch on “Simple Passion”

Laetitia Dosch is interviewed for her new film Simple Passion (Passion simple) at the 23rd UniFrance Rendez-vous with French cinema. Our interviewer is Stefan Pape.

The film was directed Danielle Arbid, who adapted the novel by Annie Ernaux. Dosch stars alongside Sergei Polunin, Lou-Teymour Thion, Caroline Ducey, Grégoire Colin, Slimane Dazi, Vincent Courcelle-Labrousse and Dounia Sichov.

Plot: A mother falls into an addictive relationship with a Russian diplomat, with whom she has nothing in common. Simple Passion will be released in the UK and US in 2021

Camille Cottin Comes To Cannes With ‘Stillwater’ and ‘Our Men’

‘Call My Agent’ Star Camille Cottin Comes To Cannes With Two High-Profile Films – ‘Stillwater’ and ‘Our Men’

Camille Cottin is having quite a year. As more and more folks locked at home tuned into Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent), the Netflix series in which she stars, her profile has risen internationally. The comedy-drama about the trials and tribulations of a Parisian talent agency already had helped her score jobs in Hollywood films pre-pandemic, and now she’s definitely someone to keep an eye on as she continues to build an enviable cross-border résumé.

The Paris native, who spent ages 12 to 17 living in London when her family moved for her stepdad’s job, is appearing in two films in Cannes this year including Directors’ Fortnight closing title Our Men (Mon légionnaire) by Rachel Lang, and Tom McCarthy’s out-of competition drama Stillwater.

Both of those films tackle serious subject matter (more on that later), which may seem out of character for an actress who broke out locally in the Canal+ hidden-camera sketch series Connasse (literally translated: Bitch) in which she inserted herself into daily life situations and turned the tables on unsuspecting Parisians (one notorious episode featured her making penis shaped balloon animals at a children’s birthday party). Connasse spawned a feature film in 2015, The Parisian Bitch, Princess of Hearts, also a hidden-camera comedy, which saw her travel to London in an attempt to marry Prince Harry.

Cottin got her initial start in the theater, while also studying English, and did everything from the comedies of Feydeau to Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. Though she also played the antagonist in Season 3 of BBC drama Killing Eve, many of her French film roles have been in comedies. Unsurprisingly, Cottin prefers not to be defined by genre. “I think comedy, like drama, can elicit emotion,” she says. “That’s what I’m looking for. For me, it’s about rhythm. I see comedy like accelerated drama. Chaplin is dramatic, but it goes so fast that we laugh at it.”

Call My Agent! straddles both worlds, just as Cottin is doing in her career. Her character, the tightly-wound Andrea, she says, “is not a funny person; it’s super rare that she laughs. She’s always concentrated, always stressed. She spends her life trying to solve problems. It’s really the situations that are funny and she’s always getting tripped up. I try to keep a small distance where we know we are playing, that’s also part of comedy, so it’s a miniscule bit of complicity with the audience. We fully embrace the situations which are sometimes dramatic, but it’s also the way they are treated that makes comedy.”

Continue reading “Camille Cottin Comes To Cannes With ‘Stillwater’ and ‘Our Men’” →