Sunday Salon: How Did French Movie Mercredi Come to Be?

Someone asked me why I do a weekly feature on French movies and how it came to be. 

Back in 2014 when I first moved to NYC with my husband, one of the first things I did was join FIAF, the French Institute/Alliance Française, which is like the HQ for Francophiles in New York, a library and cultural center where you can learn French, borrow books and attend events. One perk of being a member is a free pass to a weekly movie. I went sometimes; I didn't go all the time. In 2020 when the Covid lockdown hit, FIAF started offering free weekly movies online and a discounted online membership. Every week we'd get a code for a movie from one of the streaming services, often Kino Now. Like their in person series, these were current or recent movies, curated selections with stars like Jean Dujardin or Léa Seydoux. Good things. 

Because my husband has a D&D game online every Sunday, Sunday night became my "me time" and I would often watch the weekly film at that time. Sometime in 2021 the online movies ended and FIAF went back to in person screenings but I liked the ritual of finding a French (or other) movie to watch during "my" Sunday nights. When I restarted the blog in 2022 I thought it would be a fun feature to add.

I do it on Wednesdays for no particular reason. The name "French Movie Mercredi" appealed to me for the alliteration, mercredi being the French word for Wednesday.

So that's the story. I get FIAF's newsletter and use reelgood.com to find movies I want to see on the streaming services I get. I'm usually able to find something most weeks though lots of the movies they show are very recent releases that may not have come the US yet and may not for quite some time. Sometimes I luck out and they are available though.

I haven't decided yet what I'm watching tonight. I find Apple+ has a lot of what I end up watching, and Kanopy, the free service I can use with my library card, always surprises me with their offerings. I used to watch a lot through Kino Now too. They are an on-demand service for foreign and independent films that is worth checking out. I should see what's new with them.

As long as Jeff plays D&D I'm good!