Photograph Exhibit and a Film Festival
On November 5, 2009, Ambassador Louis Nigro joined his French Counterpart, Benoit Foucher at the French Cultural Center where they presided over the opening ceremony of the “Quinzaine Americaine.” This activity which includes a photograph exhibit and a film festival, is an unprecedented collaborative effort by the two diplomatic missions to showcase their excellent relations and give their top-notch contacts in particular and the Chadian public in general, the opportunity to sample American culture through visual arts. During the two week-long program, the public will have the opportunity to visit the exhibit of photographs by Jean-Robert Dantou, a young French photographer who followed Barack Obama’s electoral campaign trail and shoot various campaign scenes. The film festival component of the program includes the showing of several “film noir,” a typically American photographic genre that marked the 1930-1950’s.
Addressing the some 150 high-ranking guests at the opening ceremony, Ambassador Nigro stressed the importance of culture as a means of uniting people and the need to further this collaborative effort with the French Cultural Center as a way of strengthening the two Missions’ relations and reaching out to a wider audience in Chad.
Prior to this event, the PAO and the French Cultural Center Deputy Director held a joint press conference on November 3 in order to informin the local media and the public about the festival.