BOHS Will Attend Film Fest

French students from Brea Olinda High School (BOHS) will broaden their world cinema horizons and enhance their French language skills by attending the 19th City of Lights, City of Angels (COLCOA) Film Festival, “A Week of French Film Premieres in Hollywood,” on April 24 in Los Angeles.

BOHS World Language Department Chair Nadia Fox and French teacher Amanda Louis are organizing the field trip. Participants will have the opportunity to communicate with other students while learning more about French culture by watching a film, presented in French with English subtitles, that has never been released in the United States.

“This is my first year at BOHS and it was my idea to bring BOHS students to COLCOA for the first time. Every year, I have gone with my students during the years I’ve taught at three high schools,” Louis told JSR.

She continued, “I will take BOHS annually from here on out. I am so happy to introduce BOHS French students to this wonderful, cultural experience.”

Fox told JSR that she believes the festival will enhance the students’ abilities.

“[When I was younger,] I watched only a few films like ‘Chocolat’ and ‘Amelie’ in French [and] I watched ‘Asteriz’ and a few cartoons in French. Watching movies helped me pick up some sounds and expressions,” she said.

“Reading a book which is written in French can help students learn too, but watching a French movie also can contribute to their effective learning by exposing students to French language gradually.”

Monica Girgis, a senior and AP French student, agrees that watching films in French helps students to learn more about the language.

“Since I was young, I attended French Catholic school and studied French for nine years. At that time, teachers showed me French movies. Watching movies helped me a lot in learning French grammar and vocabulary that could be related to speaking and writing,“ Girgis said in an interview with JSR.

According to Fox, it’s important to learn about culture and lifestyle in order to enjoy learning the language itself. She believes that since the French Film Festival will be very entertaining and interesting because the film will contain content including not only the French language but culture as well.

In addition to French Film Festival, French teachers are also planning to have more field trips in the future to places such as French restaurants, French art museums, and theaters.