1.
Morocco
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Morocco, officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco, is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Geographically, Morocco is characterized by a mountainous interior, large tracts of desert. Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 and its capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. Other major cities include Marrakesh, Tangier, Tetouan, Salé, Fes, Agadir, Meknes, Oujda, Kenitra, a historically prominent regional power, Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours. Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, the Alaouite dynasty, the current ruling dynasty, seized power in 1666. In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates, with a zone in Tangier. Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces. Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, leading to a war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991. Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament. The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers, especially over the military, foreign policy, the king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law. He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister, Moroccos predominant religion is Islam, and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight. The Moroccan dialect, referred to as Darija, and French are also widely spoken, Morocco is a member of the Arab League, the Union for the Mediterranean, and the African Union. It has the fifth largest economy of Africa, the full Arabic name al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah translates to Kingdom of the West, although the West in Arabic is الغرب Al-Gharb. The basis of Moroccos English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty, the origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words amur akush or Land of God. The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is Mṛṛakc, in Turkish, Morocco is known as Fas, a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. The English name Morocco is an anglicisation of the Spanish Marruecos, the area of present-day Morocco has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, sometime between 190,000 and 90,000 BC. During the Upper Paleolithic, the Maghreb was more fertile than it is today, twenty-two thousand years ago, the Aterian was succeeded by the Iberomaurusian culture, which shared similarities with Iberian cultures. Skeletal similarities have been suggested between the Iberomaurusian Mechta-Afalou burials and European Cro-Magnon remains, the Iberomaurusian was succeeded by the Beaker culture in Morocco
2.
2006 Cannes Film Festival
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The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from 17 May 2006 to 28 May 2006. Twenty films from countries were in competition for the Palme dOr. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury, english director Ken Loach won Palme dOr, with his movie The Wind That Shakes the Barley. Other winners were Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro González Iñárritu and this also marked the first time in three years that no American film, actor, actress, or filmmaker won any awards in Cannes. The festival opened with the screening of The Da Vinci Code. Journalists gave the film a cool reception at its first press screening, transylvania by Tony Gatlif closed the festival. Paris, je taime opened the Un Certain Regard section of the festival, Wong Kar-wai, President Helena Bonham Carter Monica Bellucci Samuel L
3.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
4.
Hauts-de-Seine
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Hauts-de-Seine is a department of France. It is part of the Métropole du Grand Paris and of the Île-de-France region and it is small and densely populated and contains the modern office, theatre, and shopping complex known as La Défense. Its creation reflected the implementation of a law passed in 1964, in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Hauts-de-Seine received national attention as the result of a corruption scandal concerning the misuse of public funds provided for the departments housing projects. Implicated were former minister and former President of the council of the Hauts-de-Seine, Charles Pasqua. Hauts-de-Seine is Frances second wealthiest département and one of Europes richest areas and its GDP per capita was €62,374 in 2003, according to INSEE official figures. Hauts-de-Seine is the base of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic from 2007 to 2012. He was previously the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine in the department, Charles Pasqua was also based in Hauts-de-Seine. Website of the General council Prefecture website
5.
French people
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The French are an ethnic group and nation who are identified with the country of France. This connection may be legal, historical, or cultural, modern French society can be considered a melting pot. To be French, according to the first article of the French Constitution, is to be a citizen of France, regardless of origin, race. The debate concerning the integration of this view with the underlying the European Community remains open. A large number of foreigners have traditionally been permitted to live in France, indeed, the country has long valued its openness, tolerance and the quality of services available. Application for French citizenship is often interpreted as a renunciation of previous state allegiance unless a dual citizenship agreement exists between the two countries, the European treaties have formally permitted movement and European citizens enjoy formal rights to employment in the state sector. Seeing itself as a nation with universal values, France has always valued. However, the success of such assimilation has recently called into question. There is increasing dissatisfaction with, and within, growing ethno-cultural enclaves, the 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished suburbs were an example of such tensions. However they should not be interpreted as ethnic conflicts but as social conflicts born out of socioeconomic problems endangering proper integration, the name France etymologically derives from the word Francia, the territory of the Franks. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that overran Roman Gaul at the end of the Roman Empire, in the pre-Roman era, all of Gaul was inhabited by a variety of peoples who were known collectively as the Gaulish tribes. Gaul was militarily conquered in 58-51 BCE by the Roman legions under the command of General Julius Caesar, the area then became part of the Roman Empire. Over the next five centuries the two cultures intermingled, creating a hybridized Gallo-Roman culture, the Gaulish vernacular language disappeared step by step to be replaced everywhere by Vulgar Latin, which would later develop under Frankish influence into the French language in the North of France. With the decline of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, a federation of Germanic peoples entered the picture, the Franks were Germanic pagans who began to settle in northern Gaul as laeti, already during the Roman era. They continued to filter across the Rhine River from present-day Netherlands, at the beginning, they served in the Roman army and reached high commands. Their language is spoken as a kind of Dutch in northern France. Another Germanic people immigrated massively to Alsace, the Alamans, which explains the Alemannic German spoken there and they were competitors of the Franks, thats why it became at the Renaissance time the word for German in French, Allemand. By the early 6th century the Franks, led by the Merovingian king Clovis I and his sons, had consolidated their hold on much of modern-day France, the Vikings eventually intermarried with the local people, converting to Christianity in the process
6.
84th Academy Awards
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During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Brian Grazer and Don Mischer, Actor Billy Crystal hosted the show for the ninth time. He first presided over the 62nd ceremony held in 1990 and had last hosted the 76th ceremony held in 2004, in related events, the Academy held its third annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on November 12,2011. On February 11,2012, in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, the telecast garnered more than 39 million viewers in the United States. The nominees for the 84th Academy Awards were announced on January 24,2012, PST at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Tom Sherak, president of the Academy, and the actress Jennifer Lawrence. Hugo led all nominees with eleven nominations, The Artist came in second with ten, the winners were announced during the awards ceremony on February 26,2012. The Artist was the silent feature to win Best Picture. The 1927 film Wings was the first such film to achieve this distinction at the awards ceremony in 1929. Moreover, it was also the first black-and-white feature to win Best Picture since 1993s Schindlers List, Best Actor winner Jean Dujardin became the first French actor to win an Oscar. With her latest win for Best Actress, Meryl Streep became the performer to win at least three acting Oscars. At age 82, Best Supporting Actor winner Christopher Plummer also made Oscar history by becoming the oldest ever performer to win a competitive acting Oscar, winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger. The Academy held its 3rd Annual Governors Awards ceremony on November 12,2011, James Earl Jones — For his legacy of consistent excellence and uncommon versatility. Dick Smith — For his unparalleled mastery of texture, shade, form, oprah Winfrey The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers. Because of the viewership of recent Academy Awards ceremonies, the Academy sought ideas to revamp the show while renewing interest with the nominated films. After a two-year experiment with ten Best Pictures nominees, AMPAS president Tom Sherak announced that the number of final nominees can now range from five to ten as opposed a fixed number. Academy then-executive director Bruce Davis explained, A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit, If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldnt feel an obligation to round out the number. Changes in the Best Animated Feature also were announced, originally, the Academy selected director Brett Ratner as co-producer of the ceremony with Don Mischer in August 2011. Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy was hired by Ratner to preside over hosting duties, Murphy subsequently stepped down as host the following day
7.
Gennevilliers
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Gennevilliers is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine département of France. It is located 9.1 km from the center of Paris, on 9 April 1929, one-fifth of the territory of Gennevilliers was detached and became the commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne. Gennevilliers is the site of the river port Port of Gennevilliers of Paris on the Seine river. Gennevilliers is served by three stations on Paris Métro line 13, Les Courtilles, Les Agnettes and Gabriel Péri, all three are at the border with the commune of Asnières-sur-Seine. Gennevilliers is also served by two stations on Paris RER line C, Les Grésillons and Gennevilliers, schools include,13 preschools 9 elementary schools 3 junior high schools, Collège Guy-Môquet, Collège Edouard-Vaillant, Collège Louis-Pasteur There is a senior high school, Lycée Galilée
8.
Fanny Ardant
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Fanny Marguerite Judith Ardant is a French actress. She has appeared in more than eighty motion pictures since 1976, Ardant won the César Award for Best Actress in 1997 for her performance in Pédale douce. Ardant was born in Saumur Maine-et-Loire, France, to a military attaché father and she grew up in Monaco until age 17 when she moved to Aix-en-Provence to study at the Institut détudes politiques dAix-en-Provence. In her early twenties her interest turned to acting and in 1974 she made her first appearance on stage, by the early 1980s she was a major motion picture star, gaining international recognition for her role opposite Gérard Depardieu in La Femme dà côté. The film, directed by François Truffaut, brought Ardant her first César Award nomination for best actress in 1982, eventually she became Truffauts companion, giving birth to their daughter, Joséphine Truffaut, on 28 September 1983. Initially, her youthful beauty brought popularity but over time her sophistication and she proved her versatility, playing a comedic role in Pédale douce for which she won the 1997 César Award for Best Actress. Fluent in English and Italian, Ardant has starred in several Hollywood and her most recent English-language film was the Franco Zeffirelli production Callas Forever, in which she portrayed opera diva Maria Callas. It opened the 14th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on 9 January 2003, in 2003, Ardant received the Stanislavsky Award at the 25th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2009, she became a director and screenwriter, with Cendres et sang, in 2010, she directed her first-ever short feature called Absent Chimeras in which she also stars. She made this film in order to raise public awareness to the plight of Romani people in Europe. In 2013, she made an appearance as herself in The Great Beauty. She once expressed admiration for Renato Curcio, ex leader of the militant Red Brigades and she later discovered that it would be difficult to attend a film festival in Venice, as her declaration had created much scandal in Italy. The Governor of Veneto said that he would prefer that Ardant not visit his region and she then pleaded for forgiveness from victims of terrorism. Anarchisme et surréalisme, Mémoire de lI. E. P, Fanny Ardant at the Internet Movie Database Fanny Ardant at AllMovie Fanny Ardant at AlloCiné
9.
Days of Glory (2006 film)
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Days of Glory is a 2006 French film directed by Rachid Bouchareb. The cast includes Sami Bouajila, Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Mélanie Laurent, the film deals with the contribution of North African soldiers to the Free French Forces during the Second World War and, controversially, with the discrimination against them. The films release contributed to a recognition of the pension rights of soldiers from former French possessions by the French government. Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Saïd, a goat herder, joins the 7th Algerian Tirailleur Regiment. Soon the men, dressed in lend-lease American uniforms meet Sergeant Martinez, a pied noir. Their mission is to capture a heavily-defended mountain from the Germans and it soon becomes clear that their white commanding officer is using the colonial troops as cannon fodder to identify artillery targets. The African troops eventually succeed, but the result in high casualties among the colonial troops. When asked by a French war correspondent about his thoughts on the losses, the troops of the 7th ATR are transported to France to participate in Operation Dragoon to liberate the south of France. While aboard ship, a white cook refuses to give tomatoes to black soldiers, Abdelkader calls for equality but the mutiny is averted when Martinez and the company Captain assures everyone will be treated the same. On arrival at Marseille, the troops are greeted as heroes. Messaoud, meets and courts Irène, a French woman, When his regiment leaves, he promises to write and she says shell wait for him and they will marry. However, due to French censorship of mail between Arab men and white French women, Irène never learns Messaouds fate, Saïd becomes Martinezs orderly, for which the other soldiers call him wench. Eventually, he snaps and holds a knife to Messaouds throat, Abdelkader calms the situation, but Saïd makes it clear that in this segregated world the French authorities will not give their African soldiers anything. The colonial troops discover that while they are not allowed breaks, eventually, the troops are told they are going home, but its a ruse, instead, they are billeted behind the lines and given a ballet performance. Bored and disillusioned, most leave the tent and hold a meeting outside decrying the injustice, Martinez challenges the group, led by Abdelkader, and a fight starts. Early the next morning, French MPs bring Messaoud to a stockade where Abdelkader is also being held. Messaoud says he was arrested for trying to go back to Marseille, the white officer promises that Abdelkader and the other African soldiers will get the rewards and recognition that success in this operation demands
10.
Monsieur N.
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Monsieur N. is a 2003 British-French film directed by Antoine de Caunes. It tells the story of the last years of the life of Napoleon Bonaparte who was imprisoned by the British on St Helena, Napoleon retained a loyal entourage of officers who helped him plot his escape, and evaded the attentions of Sir Hudson Lowe, the islands overzealous Governor. The film suggests that Napoleon could have escaped to Louisiana, where he died, the film also suggests that Napoleon and his young new English wife could have attended the ceremony of Napoleons burial in the Invalides. The film was received and has a 70% fresh rating on film critic aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Official site Monsieur N. at the Internet Movie Database
11.
Live and Become
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Live and Become is a 2005 French drama film about an Ethiopian Christian boy who disguises himself as an Ethiopian Jew to escape famine and emigrates to Israel. It was directed by Romanian-born Radu Mihăileanu and it won awards at the Cannes, Berlin and Vancouver film festivals among others. Schlomo, an Ethiopian boy, is placed by his Christian mother with an Ethiopian Jewish woman whose child has died and this woman, who will become his adoptive mother, is about to be airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel during Operation Moses in 1984. His birth mother, who hopes for a life for him, tells him “Go, live. The film tells of his growing up in Israel and how he deals with the secrets he carries, not being Jewish, Moshe Agazai as Child Schlomo Moshe Abebe as Teenage Schlomo Sirak M. Sabahat
12.
Azouz Begag
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Azouz Begag, is a French writer, politician and researcher in economics and sociology at the CNRS. He was the minister for equal opportunities of France in the government of French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin till 5 April 2007. He resigned to support the moderate centrist candidate François Bayrou, one of the two UMP ministers to do so, before becoming minister, Begag was decorated and made Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite and knight of the Legion of Honor. Begag is the son of Algerian parents who arrived in France in 1949, in his teens, he qualified as an electrician. He grew up in a shanty town outside Lyon, les bas quartiers, Begag is the father of two daughters. He is divorced from his wife, Begag has a doctorate in Economics from Lyon II University. He has combined the functions of researcher in economy at the CNRS and at the Maison des sciences sociales et humaines of Lyon since 1980 and the one of professor at the École Centrale de Lyon. A visiting professor in Spring 2002 at the Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies at Florida State University, in addition, he was a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York for one year. In his account in 2007 of his two years as minister, The Sheep in the Bathtub, he describes his work as that of a sociologist. Begag has written approximately 20 literary books for adults and children, Begags best known literary work is the autobiographical novel Le Gone du Chaâba, published in 1986 by Éditions du Seuil. The title itself is a play on one of his regional languages words. Gone is a term for kid or lad in the Lyonnais dialect of Arpitan used in his region and city, while Chaâba is an Arabic word, used in the book as the name of a shantytown in Sétif. Both Azouz Begag and the protagonist of the novel grew up in a shanty town outside Lyon, the language and culture were predominantly a mix of Algerian Arabic, Kabyle Tamazigh and Arpitan. His most widely published book is his account in 2007 of his two years as minister, titled The Sheep in the Bathtub, this is a reference to a quote from Nicolas Sarkozy warning French Muslims not to slaughter sheep in their bathtubs for Eid al-Adha. Azouz Begag was minister during the 2005 civil unrest in France, Begag confronted Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy on the subject of the policies in the suburbs of Paris. Azouz Begag also publicly opposed Sarkozy in his movie Camping à la ferme and he was, in October 2005, at the centre of a diplomatic incident between France and the United States. This was considered as racial profiling on the part of the US immigration officers, on 16 March 2007, Begag officially announced his support for the UDF candidate François Bayrou. Begag resigned from the French government on 5 April 2007 and he is a MoDem regional councillor in the Centre region
