Le Carrefour: The Intersection Documentary Showing and Q&A

The Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine invites you to join us at 51 Westminster St. in Lewiston on Wednesday, January 17th, 2024 at 6:30 pm for a viewing of the documentary Le Carrefour/The Intersection and a Q & A with the creators and stars of the film. There is no fee for our programs, which are made possible by the Québec Delegation in Boston.

A heartfelt and gritty documentary, Le Carrefour shines a bright light on the intersection of past and present immigrant realities brought together by the French language. The documentary received the first ever Maine Heritage Film Grant from TV5Monde and the Points North Institute as well as a grant from the Maine Humanities Council. Le Carrefour was chosen for the Camden International Film Festival in 2021. The film tells the story of Cécile, a Franco-American woman, as she reconnects with her Franco culture and reacquires her French language skills thanks to Trésor, a Congolese asylum seeker, and other French-speaking immigrants in her city. The marvel of this unexpected relationship takes place in Cécile’s hometown of Lewiston, Maine. Cécile’s Franco roots tie her to the tens of thousands of French-Canadians who came before her to power the mills of New England, and who suffered from decades of discrimination and oppression. Will history repeat itself for newly arrived Africans as white supremacists rally against their presence here? The friendship of Cécile and Trésor and the developing union of their two communities, black and white, in their rust belt mill town, give hope for a revival of what’s best in America.

Professor and French language advocate, Jessamine Irwin and documentary filmmaker Daniel Quintanilla are Co-Directors of Le Carrefour/The Intersection. The film’s title encapsulates the struggle to find pride in being Franco-American and Franco-African in the U.S. today. For more information on the film contact Jessamine Irwin at theintersection2021@gmail.com or visit the website at lecarrefourfilm.com.

For more information or to register for this event, contact the FAC archivist, Anna Faherty at anna.faherty@maine.edu or by phone (207) 753-6545. If you have questions about disability access or need to request disability accommodations (e.g. sign language interpreters, materials in electronic format, etc.), please contact Anna. Requests should be made as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for the accommodation process.