A French poet, of Syro-Lebanese descent who lives in Paris, ADONIS has struggled with one fundamental question since the very start of his writing career : how s khjkssible to create a radically new form of poetry, free from he formal and thematic constraints of classical Arab poems ? He worked with his friends PREVERT and ARAGON, two of the most important French poets of the 20th Century, and the three of them reached some startling conclusions.

Theo Angelopoulos, Greek film maker, the internal journey

Greek director, he was awarded the Palme d’Or at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, for « Eternity and a day », and also a Golden Lion at Venice.
It was in Paris, where he studied Cinematography, that he developed his own personal style. After seven years in France, he decided to return to Greece. He wanted to be able to keep up with political developments, and use his art as a means of resisting the military dictatorship which had come to power in his home country.

Venus Khoury Ghata, A French poet with a touch of the Orient

enus KHOURY GHATA, is a Lebanese writer and poet, who has lived and worked in Paris since 1979. More than 80 000 copies of her novels have been published, and her work has been translated into more than 23 languages. When her brother failed to be recognised as “a Lebanese RIMBAUD” in France, Venus KHOURY GHATA stepped in to complete his poetic work. The challenge was to find a balance between the French influence in her work, and her passion for the Orient. 

Papa, as Marlene DIETRICH fondly referred to him, is considered to be one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. He won many literary prizes, including the Nobel Prize for Literature. His name is inherently associated with Cuba. Avid fisherman that he was, his visits to the country left a enduring mark. In 1935, he caught the largest spearfish ever fished in the Atlantic, at 119 pounds. Another time he brought in a Blue Shark weighing 789 pounds. All of these achievements were officially recorded and certified.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Block in the 90s, Cuba is one of the only nations which maintains to a Marxist-Leninist political system, with a powerful dictatorship, a single party system, and severe restrictions on individual liberties. Fidel CASTRO is the most important man in Cuba today, and has been for the last 50 years. Few men have left such a strong mark in the history of their country.

The epic movie « CHE », a double set of 2 hour films, starring Benicio Del Toro, and directed by Steven Sodenberg (Traffic, Oceans eleven, twelve, thirteen,… ), focused on two key periods in « Che’s » life: his time as a Cuban Guerrilla in the Sierra Maestra until they successful conquest of Havana, and then the period he spent as a guerrilla in Bolivia, which effectively signed his death warrant.« The Faces of Che » is a more comprehensive documentary about this iconic figure, giving an alternative angle on the contemporary myth.

For any musician being offered a gig at the Olympia in Paris is the ultimate compliment. For Raul Paz, a Cuban musician who has been living in Paris for more than 10 years, it’s a moment to look back and reflect on his music and his identity. Is it possible to get away from the « postcard » stereotype when you come from an exotic country? There has to be more to Cuban music than just « Buena Vista Social Club » and « Compay Segundo » ? All of these questions really came to the fore when he was invited to return to Cuba for the show « Los Premios Lucas », the equivalent of the « Emmy Awards ».

Born to a family of actors, and surrounded by women from a very young age, Casanova started training for a career in the Church before becoming sidetracked into a life of adventures. He tried his hand at a range of activities, from violinist to conman, financier, librarian, and professional gambler. As he skitted around Europe, shifting from Royal courts to royal gaols, mixing indifferently with popes and chamber maids, the legend of this remarkable man grew.

Hemingway, the wanderer

Born in Chicago in 1899, Hemingway lived through the 20th century as an insatiable wanderer. After a brief stint as a journalist at the Kansas City Star, he went to Italy during the First World War to be an ambulance driver at the front, and then, after a short stay in Paris, finally made his home in Havana.

With a name like Suleiman the Magnificent, one anticipates a great and glorious history. Known as ‘the Legislator’ in Turkish, he imposed a number of reforms in the Ottoman Empire during his reign. Warrior, scholar (he spoke four languages), patron, poet, and legislator, his reign was the cultural golden age of the Ottoman empire. His marriage was another part of his myth. 

André Le Nôtre is undoubtedly the most famous French landscape artist. As the gardener of King Louis XIV, from 1645 to 1700, he designed the park and the gardens at the Château de Versailles, and also at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, the Château de Chantilly and the Château de Fontainbleau. In 1656, Le Nôtre designed the gardens at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte for Nicolas Fouquet. Working in cooperation with Louis Vau and Charles Le Brun, he created flower beds, bodies of water, tree groves and a reversal in perspective.