A Cine-club for Promoting and Teaching French Language and Culture

Dhurata Hoxha

p. 181-188


Texte intégral

1It is undeniable that the Alliances françaises (AF) of Albania are key actors in promoting Francophonie in general. They strive to maintain vital connections with French and Francophone culture and Albanian culture. To understand what this role involves, a retrospective look back at the early 1990’s is necessary. This does not mean giving a comprehensive overview, but rather mentioning a few key moments which track the progress that was made. The early 1990’s were a time of major socio-political changes in Albania. Many intellectuals from different professions were getting involved in politics, inspired by democratic aspirations that had for a long time been denied under the totalitarian regime. On the other hand, some of them tried to pursue their own ideals. This was the case for a group of Francophone and Francophile intellectuals in Tirana, who for the most part formerly studied in France and eventually came together to form the Alliance française of Tirana at a time when Albania was going through a turbulent transition period.1

2The establishment of this organization did not represent an entry into uncharted territory but was instead brought about by longstanding historical connections between the two nations. This can be seen in the rich history of French consulates, journalists and photographers located in Albania during the early 19th century. During this time, the Albanian National Lyceum in Korça (a city in southeast part of the country) continued this practice by teaching French and partaking in several cultural exchanges during Communist rule.

3The incredible journey of the parent Alliance française in Tirana began by offering French classes in the capital city. Gradually, however, the organization managed to bring together individuals who wished to help promote the spread and understanding of the French language and French way of thinking in other cities. The goal was to maintain vital historical relations between the two cultures and pass them on to future generations.

4This project was not carried out overnight but was the result of tireless work by committee members and teaching staff, and was aided as well by the support of partners such as the French Embassy in Albania and other local organizations. Today there is a truly integrated network of Alliances françaises: branches coordinate their educational and cultural missions, partake in various exchanges with one another, respect and develop each other’s work and perfect communication between actors in the field.

Cultural missions of the Alliances françaises

5The Alliances network in Albania is located throughout different geographical regions. This network (and its attached branches) has already consolidated its missions: it aims to promote French culture by promoting French writers, painters, musicians, actors, directors, chefs, etc. Through the support of the French Embassy, many French theater shows, exhibitions and films have toured several cities in Albania. These were well-received by the public, who thusly is aware of French culture and valorizes it. The biggest events are held during the “Spring of Francophonie” season, but this does not mean that no other relevant events happen throughout the year. The creation of the Cultural Affairs Officer position at the AF of Tirana has brought a new momentum to the cultural activities of the Alliances network in Albania. A newsletter presenting cultural activities in Albania is regularly distributed throughout Francophone and Francophile communities.

Institut français Cinema project

6The projects proposed in the past few years by the Institut français (IF) concern resource development. The Culturethèque (a digital library) and the IF Cinema digital platform are some of the IF’s most important initiatives. It should be noted here that all Alliances françaises branches responded positively to the appeal made by the SCAC (the Cooperation and Cultural Action Service or les services de coopération et d’action culturelle) of the French Embassy for branches to take advantage of such important resources. Enthusiasm was immediate and obvious among associates with the goal of improving cultural offerings in cities where French cinema was lacking, especially in smaller provinces.


Figure 1.

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Key moments in running the project: promoting the cine-club

7Why a cine-club? As mentioned above, Alliances françaises branches are located in major cities like Tirana. This capital city has a very high population density and is home to various important institutions and an international community living in Albania for business or other reasons. As a result, films were shown in cinemas in order to accommodate larger and more diverse audiences. Similar projects were launched in other cities equipped with movie theaters, but these initiatives’ shortcomings quickly became apparent. Very few people (and usually the same ones) attended screenings, and scheduling events outside of regular hours did not work for a diverse public. Analyzing such a situation, discussing with colleagues and taking into account the experiences of French lecturers at the University of Shkodër led to the creation of a cine-club. The willingness and cooperation of various actors in the fields of art/humanities and language learning could be relied on in order to bring together cinephiles who also wished to have conversations about cinema.

Deciding on venues and adapting the French model to local realities

8Considering the above-mentioned problems and the lack of a large media center at the Alliance française of Shkodër, community partners were contacted in order to organize a cine-club. It should be noted that some venues already had experience projecting films. The bar and youth center “Arka” sometimes showed films since it had the required projection equipment in place and a space for discussing films after the screening. A partnership was made between the youth center and the AF of Shkodër and has proved to be rather successful. Colleagues who spoke other languages (i.e., Italian, German, English) and worked with organizations based in the city (specifically the Italian and Austrian Consulates) joined the project. This center became not only a movie theater, but also a meeting place for Francophones and Francophiles. It also was a privileged space for networking and intercultural exchange with Italian- and German-speakers, as everyone there wanted to discover French cinema. The cine-club also helped to promote the IF Cinema platform as a way to discover contemporary French culture, exchange ideas and learn French.

Regular film projections and outreach

9The cine-club effectively became part of the Shkodër’s cultural offerings, with regular programs offered every month on particular days (on the first Wednesday and last Thursday of the month) in an attempt to provide guidance to film lovers. Efforts were made to put in place all sorts of outreach programs, especially via social media. Outreach was also accomplished by putting up posters in the city, distributing pamphlets in busy bars and occasionally advertising events through the local media. French lecturers working at the local university and French immersion program, as well as teachers of French and other languages, were the principal intermediaries between the Alliance and young audiences.

Staff involved in translation

10It is important to note the outstanding work done by the staff at the AF of Tirana. Impassioned young translators, driven by a desire to move the project forward, provided Albanian subtitles for film screenings. These subtitles made the film easy to understand for the general public and were sometimes discussed and analyzed during translation sessions with FLE students (Français langue étrangère or French as a foreign language).

Target audience

11Typically, the goal was to reach a diverse audience (i.e., young people, adults, professionals, artists). Often, however, audiences were targeted depending on the theme of film (sometimes. a projection was aimed at teenage and student audiences, working adults or artists). This resulted in more successful discussions following the film.

Organizing discussions

12Coordinating these discussions was admittedly a real challenge. Educational materials that accompanied certain films were utilized. The commitment of French lecturers at the university was also taken advantage of in brainstorming various avenues of thought and topics for the discussions. However, several problems still arose. Spectators often left right after the film screening. Discussion participants were frequently shy about speaking in public. Moreover, local film professionals who could have sparked lively discussions in Albanian were difficult to invite due to a lack of commitment. In fact, it was almost always the same individuals who took part in discussions.

13It is precisely this last problem that led to relocating the cine-club into French classes for educational and cultural reasons. As an instructor of future French teachers at the University of Shkodër, the author first suggested to her students that they take part in the project. It all began in FLE didactic methodology courses. First of all, it was necessary to consider teachers’ concerns regarding the use of film in the classroom. This was done in order to understand the current situation so that concrete activities could be proposed according to the needs and demands of the teachers. A field survey focusing on French teachers instructing at different levels (middle school, high school and university) was conducted. Questions in the survey concerned: the curriculum content (was cinema used as a teaching aid in language learning, and if yes, at what at educational level); the use of cinema in the classroom (were there teachers who had prior experience with this, and if yes, what approach did they use and what did they think of it); the available equipment and resources at their disposal; the teachers’ training background; interdisciplinary work carried out by colleagues in the same academic institution; students’ motivations for learning French; and young people’s interest in using audiovisual materials in French class and the impact of such materials on learning outcomes. Analyzing the survey results revealed an almost complete lack of cinema being used in the classroom at the pre-university level. This could be explained by time constraints (i.e., a lack of concern for meeting the school’s objectives), a lack of the necessary resources and facilities, and a lack of training among teachers. It should be pointed out that all of the instructors surveyed were in favor of using film in their French classes, but afterwards only a few actually did this with their students. The situation was different at the university level, where cinema was already being used as a fascinating source to be examined in subjects such as history, civilization, literature and sociolinguistics. In all, this initiative was regarded as very important in order to:

  • Revitalize French language-learning and help teachers work in roundabout ways;
  • Motivate students to learn French, while taking into consideration young people’s interest in cinema.

14Didactic methodology courses also incorporated a theoretical background illustrating the potential of cinema as a form of popular entertainment. Films should be presented as such to students, in the same way as literature, painting, photography and theater. Cinema in particular is part of the daily habits of teenagers and young adults. Exploiting its full potential in FLE classes is crucial. Emphasis was placed on film sequences as lively, stimulating and authentic documents since, as Karadağ points out, they enable:

  • Language learners to get acquainted with many types of accents by presenting characters with different linguistic-cultural makeups;
  • An understanding of the prosodic dimensions of language by presenting a range of rhythms and intonations;
  • Students to become aware of para and non-verbal elements of communication, since film sequences present a character’s facial expressions and gestures;
  • An understanding of different language registers since films present characters with defined roles and status who are implicated in unique communication situations. The role of cinema in conveying culture should not be overlooked.

Factors fostering film education

15Official documents and guidelines from the Ministry of Education emphasize, “cinema and all kinds of audiovisual productions [as] teaching aids at the service of instructors, since they enable a student to develop a conception of the other and the world we live in by offering a sense of cultural and artistic open-mindedness.”2 The use of this tool has been found to go hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Education’s pedagogical goals. Middle and high school curricula, full of their own goals and objectives, provide teachers with the leeway and the possibility to work differently. Many educators, driven by a love of their craft, try to stay informed and receive training. They may want to break their routines, take chances and innovate. Introducing cinema to French classes provides an opportunity for this.

16The role of film festivals aimed at young and teenage audiences should also be pointed out. These include festivals such as AniFestROZAFA and Giffoni Albania that are sponsored by the Albanian National Center of Cinematography, an institution under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture. Introductory brochures present the central aims of these festivals:

  • Teach children and teenagers to follow in the tradition of going to the cinema and embrace this space as a place of cultural practice and social bonding;
  • Meaningfully approach cinema by focusing on its artistic characteristics and by offering participants key tools of understanding, analysis and open-mindedness towards other cultures.3

17The shared commitment of many participants (i.e., teachers, teachers-in-training, the staff at the Alliance française) is also an important consideration. The AF of Shkodër had already been coordinating a French cine-club. In addition, however, the Alliance got involved, on several occasions, in projecting films in connection with the Environmental Film Festival. This initiative was supported as well by the participation of the European Union Delegation in Albania and the participation of several educational institutions.

18As the cine-club evolved, the AF of Shkodër reconsidered what activities could be done before and following a film screening. Such activities would allow French classes to work on their various language skills, as well as their cross-cultural skills in consulting educational materials provided to teachers-in-training. Films from the AF of Shkodër media center were also used, and since they were subtitled in French they helped students to work through various conversational exercises.

19In conclusion, the cine-club project contributed towards:

  • A greater visibility and amount of promotion for the Alliance française in the city;
  • Educating young and adult audiences about contemporary French cinema, audiences who often enjoy commercial cinema available on various privately-owned TV stations;
  • Bringing life to the city’s cultural offerings;
  • Exchanges and partnerships with other actors in the cultural sphere (i.e., local institutions, youth organizations, schools and universities).

20The conclusions drawn from studying this project will provide initial considerations in the creation of well-established cine-clubs in other cities (where they do not have Alliances françaises branches). By launching cine-clubs in such cities, young and adult audiences would ideally be more exposed to French cinema. Teachers would be encouraged to discuss cinema in class. They could use it to expose students to everyday spoken language and different language registers. Educators could then share their personal experiences through workshops that would lead to sharing innovative findings, especially given the gaps in development and teaching in urban and rural areas. Projects addressing this subject could then be put into place.

21There is no shortage of possibilities. It is up to educators to rise to the challenge.

Notes de bas de page

1 Dhurata Hoxha. Les Alliances françaises comme un vecteur puissant des liens d’affinités entre le peuple albanais et Français, Conference catalogue, « Pont entre deux rives : la France, l’image de l’Occident sous l’optique des intellectuels albanais ». Tirana: Mediaprint, 2015.

2 https://www.arsimi.gov.al, Stratégie du développement de l’Enseignement pré-universitaire 2014-2020.

3 https://www.arsimi.gov.al, Stratégie du développement de l’Enseignement pré-universitaire 2014-2020.


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