Since we are progressively reopening our doors to welcome visitors – all the while respecting safety measures – there’s no time better than now to look at how we’ve fared in the past few months. To begin with we moved our classes online in no time, but we thought more could be done yet. So, we adapted our cultural offer to give you the full French experience from the comfort and safety of your home!

MON FILM À LA MAISON

While our theatre was closed, we gave you the opportunity to continue your exploration of French cinema. Our partnership with Institut Francais gave you access to over 20 films and if that wasn’t enough, we joined hands with MUBI to give you a three months’ subscription to their catalogue of movie titles – at zero cost! Those who were spoilt for choice could rely on our recommendations; we curated close to 50 French and francophone films across a range of genres, so that there would be something for everyone. 

For the curious and the uninitiated, we had the pleasure of sitting down (at home!) with actress Céline Sallette of Corporate, actress Florence Loiret Caille of The Together Project / The Aquatic Effect, as well as the cast of Call My Agent! for live Q&A sessions. We kept things exciting with the last; on every Thursday for three successive weeks, we had the company of Thibault de Montalembert, Assaad Bouab, and Stéfi Celma and Grégory Montel respectively!

Here’s a look at what went down:

MA CULTURE À LA MAISON

As we’re aware that music has the power to lift our spirits, we took our celebrations online – and so E-International Music Day 2020 came alive at Alliance Française. This year, we packed an entire day with rhythm and tunes for your music fix: an exclusive online jazz concert, live by the French band NoSax NoClar; a musical blind test; a live stream DJ set and more!

For our first ever online virtual exhibition, we figured it was apt to bring back our exhibition from last January. It was our hope that “Celebrations are the juice of life”, which featured 10 finalists of the 10th France + Singapore Photographic Arts Award (FSPAA), would inject some spirit back into our lives as we awaited better and brighter days. 

What’s more: our new initiative – ma photographie à la maison – gave amateur photographers a chance to showcase their work on our platform:

Not neglecting the food culture, some of you took your first step to becoming a mixologist in our online cocktail masterclass with Ricky Paiva, manager at Miss Fitz. And because we know all about the delight of sending and receiving gifts from friends and family alike during the circuit breaker, we sent the ingredients for the cocktails – Sidecar and French 75 – right to your doorstep!

MA MÉDIATHÈQUE À LA MAISON

To keep your reading habit alive and to help you practise your French, we brought our usual events – conversation club, read-aloud workshop and storytelling – all online!

And that’s not all: some got a chance to e-meet Franck Dibouës, author of La Tête et le Ventre, to rediscover the pleasure of eating through the principles of intuitive eating.

FRENCH FRIDAY AT HOME

Finally, our end of term celebrations was certainly not to be missed! To give you a pat on the back for coping with the situation like a pro, we held our iconic French Friday online!

We introduced our usual line-up: a free trial class; a movie screening; and of course, not forgetting l’apéro, with the theme “Fifty Shades of Pink”! Those of you who took part in our quiz night did not let the online medium curb your enthusiasm; instead you gave it your all, and we just want to say we really appreciate your effort and participation!

And that was a quick recap of what we’ve been up to. Thank you all for your patience in our period of transition from off- to online and of course, for your participation in our events! As we adjust to the new normal, you can surely look forward to more activities and events coming your way!