ASTANA – The Francophonie Spring 2024 Festival kicked off on March 1 in Kazakhstan, promoting French language and Francophone cultures. The Embassies of Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Romania, France, and Switzerland shared details of the festival during a Central Communications Service briefing on March 1.
French Ambassador to Kazakhstan Didier Canesse. Photo credit: ortcom.kz
The festival will run until April 21. Prepared in cooperation with French Alliances, Francophone associations and Kazakhstan’s cultural institutions, the program will include cinema screenings, modern, traditional, and classical music performances, conferences, photo exhibitions, virtual reality experiences and French language contests.
The International Organization of Francophonie, founded in 1970, brings together 54 permanent member states and 27 observer states united by the French language. Their activities focus on fostering political, educational, economic, and cultural cooperation rooted in principles of humanism, democracy, and the promotion of cultural diversity, according to the press release of the French embassy.
Photo credit: ortcom.kz
“As every year, we have tried to create a diverse program,” said French Ambassador to Kazakhstan Didier Canesse.
This year, the Francophone Spring will take place in Almaty, Astana, Atyrau, Karaganda, Pavlodar, Ust-Kamennogorsk and Shymkent.
As part of the events organized by the French Embassy, a singer from Paris Gaby Artmann accompanied by a quartet will perform at the Astana Opera on April 26 and at the State Philharmonic in Almaty on April 20.
The Francophone Song Contest, also organized by the French embassy, will feature a special guest, Julien Dassin, son of Joe Dassin, as a jury member for the final competition on April 6 in Astana. The participants will compete for the main prize: two tickets to Paris, provided by Air Astana, the event’s partner.
This year, the Romanian embassy will screen “Maria Inima Romaniei,” a film depicting Queen Maria’s political role and personal life during World War I, and “România Salbatica,” the most prominent documentary project dedicated to Romania’s nature. Additionally, the Romanian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Mădălina Lupu, mentioned that the embassy will organize contests and award prizes as part of the festival program.
According to Lupu, Romania has been a significant member of the World Organization of Francophonie for over four decades. This includes financial contributions and activities aimed at promoting Francophonie and its values.
“The movie screenings will be free for the visitors in some cinemas and after the screening, there will be discussion sessions with movie critics to ensure broad participation and maximum interaction of different segments of society,” said Ambassador of Canada to Kazakhstan Alan Hamson.
A detailed program of the Francophonie Spring 2024 Festival is available on the embassies’ official websites and social media platforms.
