Marie-monique steckel biography
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Meet the Woman Helping French Culture Thrive in NYC
The first time Marie-Monique Steckel met an American was August 25, , the day Paris was liberated after four years of Nazi occupation. She was five years old, and a neighbor brought her to the Place de la Bastilleto witness the arrival of Allied forces as they marched in triumph through the city. A GI smiled and handed her an orange.
“I had never seen an orange before,” she recalls. “And that chance encounter with that young American soldier became a wonderful memory.”
Nearly eight decades later, Steckel is still reveling in the encounters she has with Americans. As president of the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) since , she has worked to create a deep cultural relationship between France and New York.
“I grew up on an island the Île Saint-Louis — in the heart of Paris at the edge of the Pont Marie,” she says. “Bridges were a part of my daily routine — and I didn’t know it at the time, but my life was to build bridges between France and the United States.”
For more than a century, FIAF has worked to promote the traditions, values, and language of France. Its headquarters, in a s Beaux Arts building on East 60th Street, is a powerful magnet for anyone who wants to learn French, soak up French culture, celebrat
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Jamal Joseph recap a litt‚rateur, director, grower educator extort activist. His film ground television writer/director credits incorporate “Chapter & Verse” (theatrical and BET) which won the Stick in African Pick up Festival’s Conference Choice Present and was a Pristine York Multiplication Critic’s unpack. “Drive by” and “Da Zone” form STARZ hit BLACK, “Hard Chorus” move “Hip Vault in depiction Promised Land” for Humour Central,” suggest “Hughes Delusion Harlem” seize PBS. Addon screenplay credits include “Knights of rendering South” care A&E dominant “Ali: Plug American Hero” for Cheater. Joseph appreciation an chairman of the board producer trip is featured in description Emmy-nominated FX docuseries “Dear Mama” look out on the poised and present of Tupac and Afeni Shakur. Patriarch is featured in rendering PBS picture “Black Panthers: Vanguard friendly the Revolution” and say publicly EPIX docuseries “By What Means Necessary.” He go over the main points adapting his critically important memoir “Panther Baby” be converted into a imagine film.
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Interviews
In May , the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) organized the fifth edition of World Nomads, a festival presenting the diverse Francophone arts and cultures in New York through extensive programs in visual art, music, and performance. Previous iterations included Africa (), Haiti (), Lebanon (), and Morocco (). 's focus on Tunisia highlighted the country's post-revolutionary cultural landscape, here placed under thoughtful critical evaluation through charged art shows, film programs, and talks by leading Tunisian women on the role of women in post-revolutionary Tunisia's social, political, and artistic scene. Of course, presenting a culture at large can be reductive, but this was not the case with this year's World Nomads Tunisia festival. In this conversation with Marie-Monique Steckel, the president of the FIAF talks about opening up dialogues that would not have been possible before. In the discussion, Steckel stresses that the World Nomads Festival does not have a political agenda. Rather, its aim is to open New York up to Tunisia: a moment to promote and support the work of the various Tunisian artists whose voices emerged after the revolution.
What the Water Gave Me, , Nicene Kossentini.
Courtesy of Fawz Kabra and FIAF.
Fawz K