On March 8th it is Women’s Day. It is a day which celebrates the struggle of women for equality with men, their equal participation in society and their fair development as a person. The United Nations commemorates this day, which is a national holiday in many countries. With this purpose in mind, Paris will host the 31st edition of the most important female film festival in the world, the Film de Femmes 2009.

From 13th March to 22nd March, you’ll see new movies made exclusively by women. You’ll surely discover other points of view! The International Female Film Festival was created in 1979 to show the female made movies from all over the world. For ten days, over 150 films will be shown by new and well known female directors.

This Film de Femmes’ edition is based on “invisible borders”. Around 30 movies will treat the topic with a creative and reflexive vision. On the other hand, it will set a parallelism between Europe and the United States, which will help us to understand the social and cultural differences between the two continents. In addition, it will highlight the efforts of European filmmakers in today’s society and the new world. Among the projected movies we will see: Wendy and Lucy (de Kelly Reichardt, EE.UU.), Clara (de Helma Sanders-Brahms, Alemania), Le Murmure des ruines (de Liliane de Kermadec, Francia) or The Secret Life of Bees (de Gina Prince-Bythewood, EE.UU), among others.

But this festival is not just limited to the projection of films; it also offers many other events and contests such as the Graines de cinéphage, a special prize awarded by the jury, as well as some competitions in different categories: fiction movies, short movies and documentaries. There will also be cinema conferences and discussions celebrated at the event.

This year Anna Karina (actress, singer and writer) will be the guest star at the festival – She was one of the muses of the Nouvelle Vague. On the other hand, Josephine Baker, the famous actress, cabaret dancer and singer will be the honoured woman. The Festival will be celebrated in Créteil (París). Discover the very best of female cinema in the city of lights. Rent apartments in Paris for the very best acomoodation.

Paris Carnival 2009 – The Cosmic Carnival, Astronauts and Aliens

It’s time to dust off the masks, to air the costumes and to rescue the wigs because the Parisian Carnival is here. Yeah, you have read well! We are not talking about the Venetian Carnival, nor about the Brazilian Carnival and neither are we talking about the Canary Islands Carnival. We are talking about the Parisian Carnival! The city of lights drags a former carnival custom little known in the rest of the world which dates back to the Middle Ages. Nowadays, it celebrates two days before of the Mardi Gras.

During the twentieth century, the Parisian Carnival gradually lost its strength due to organization problems. Finally, between 1952 and 1996 it was completely halted, until the “Culture Right Association” re-activated it in 1997 with much more force than ever.

Nowadays the Parisian Carnival is celebrated in style: it is a party full of music, colour and fun. The committee star is a huge cow called “Pimprenelle”, which parades from the Gambetta square until the City Hall.

This edition’s topic is “The Cosmic Carnival, Astronauts and Aliens“. This year thousands of aliens and some astronauts will meet on the Parisian streets to celebrate this popular festival. Lots of people gather year by year to have a great time together in the Parisian Carnival.

This event creates a unique atmosphere where everything is fun and everybody smiles: associations, urban centres, schools, citizens… They all turn Paris into an incomparable city! Despite the Parisian Carnival being of small international recognition, more than 400.000 people meet in the Parisian Carnival parade.

Gradually, the old regional traditions are gaining strength and this pagan event is gaining fans in the French capital. Increasingly, more people dress up, regardless of their age or their condition.

Who does not like to have fun? Discover how people celebrate the Parisian Carnival! Take your best costume, dance with the incredible carnival music and enjoy of the great carnival Parisian atmosphere! And if you prefer to set up your own costume party, rent apartments in Paris! Are you going to miss it?

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