RéVEIL: Waking up French
ABOUT THE FILM
25 years ago Ben Levine premiered his documentary film, Réveil: Waking Up French, about the French of New England. From concert halls to church basements the brilliant language and culture of a brutally suppressed minority that comprised at least half of some states became publicly visible again in all its fullness. Franco-Americans (and many others who identified with their situation) reconnected with their love for their language and culture…the ways of their grandparents. In the process of making the film, many had become inspired to start public conversation groups in French and to create public school programs. Some wrote books and made new films and documented the language or started traditional music bands with songs in French. Families straightened out their experience of what it meant to be of French-Canadian descent.
Now everyone, whether individuals, families of schools and colleges can view the film on line. Some of the topics that the film strongly addresses are:
Immigration
Diversity
The story of the KKK and it’s attempt to suppress French people
New England and Quebec histories
Teaching French and “Careful French” and the embrace of difference
La Francophonie
Réveil: Waking Up French is a powerful documentary film that explores the struggle for cultural survival among the French-Canadian, Franco-American communities of New England.
The film traces the French heritage beginning with immigration from the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Acadia through persecution by Ku Klux Klan and language loss, to cultural renaissance and heritage preservation. Through their determined loyalty to the French Catholic faith, language and cultural values, the French of New England continue to discover new ways of renewal and cultural diversity through heritage language reacquisition.
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