In 2024, the Alliance Française in Sydney had the honour of welcoming two prominent figures from the Alliance Française Foundation: Marc Cerdan, Secretary General, and Jean-François Hans, Regional Delegate for Asia-Oceania. During their visit, Marc and Jean-François attended the ‘Taste of France’ evening as part of the Alliance Française French Film Festival, which coincided with Francophonie Week.
2024 was also an Olympic year, and the AFS launched a special programme for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This included a French course for travellers, a dedicated blog and interactive Escape Games designed to help children learn French through discovering Olympic sports.
2023 was a remarkable year, as we proudly celebrated the 140th anniversary of the creation of the Alliances Françaises, marking the occasion with a commemorative event alongside Kambala School to honour the founder of the Alliance Française de Sydney, Augustine Soubeiran. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to education, our multi-purpose hall was officially renamed the “Salle Augustine Soubeiran”.
As part of our commitment to promoting Francophone culture, we organised a lively discussion on the Rugby World Cup with Peter FitzSimons and Nick Farr-Jones.
Members of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association were invited to a private screening of the film La Dégustation during the Alliance Française French Film Festival, in recognition of their dedication and tireless work during the pandemic and beyond. Attended by our Ambassador Samantha Lang, the evening was a warm celebration of their invaluable contribution.
In 2022, the Alliance Française de Sydney brought the community together through a variety of exciting and entertaining events. Highlights included the broadcast of the France-Australia World Cup match, co-organised with FACCI, which allowed supporters to share the excitement of international football in a lively and friendly atmosphere.
We also celebrated French culture outdoors with Pétanque in the Park, inviting members and their friends to enjoy a classic French pastime, socialise and strengthen community ties.
In 2021, our members also enjoyed an exclusive online event, “Interview with the Frenchman” featuring Jack Beaumont, offering insight into contemporary French perspectives.
Additionally, we hosted the Inter-Alliance Local Competition, strengthening connections within the Alliance Française network and encouraging.
To get our community through this challenging time, we highlighted a number of reputable French platforms they could tune into; including our partner TV5 Monde, an online platform hosting countless television programmes (subtitled in English and French); Radio France, a daily broadcasting network which focuses on the world of French culture and story-making headlines; the beloved children’s songwriter’s dedicated radio station Henri Dès radio; and a classic movie collection from the French comic trailblazer Jacques Tati available through our partner SBS on Demand.
In anticipation of the eagerly awaited 30th Anniversary of the Festival, we played the trailer with our television partner SBS. In addition,
Alliance Française General Manager Philippe Ostermann spoke with Joanna Cabot on SBS Français. During the interview, Philippe discusses the
nature of the festival, the scope of the curated program and the various affiliated special events.
Click here to listen to the entire interview:
https://www.sbs.com.au/language/french/audio/alliance-francaise-french-film-festival-2019-sydney
