French Day 2015

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and the Institute for the Humanities at Montclair State University are delighted to announce the winners of the 2015 student film competition held during the February 6 “French Day” for secondary school students.  First place went to the Verona High School short film “Cher Journal,” written by Anthony Giuliano and supervised by French teacher Eugénie Mordkovich.  Second prize was awarded to Pascack Valley High School for “Madagascar,” overseen by French teachers Teresa DelGiudice and Sandy Mandel. Mahwah High School and French teacher Tara Aucoin took third prize for “Un voyage d’amour,” while an honorable mention was attributed to Passaic Valley High School for “Perdu en Corse.”

The theme of French Day, a day of workshops and films that brought 350 students and teachers from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the campus of Montclair State University, was “Les Chemins du français” (French Paths).  The program celebrated aspects of the Humanities — history, literature, art, fair trade, music, communication, and global studies — through the lens of the French language.  One of the most remarkable aspects of French today is that it is the only language, other than English, spoken on five continents.  The film competition highlighted the global status of the French language by drawing attention to the places and situations in which one can speak French in the world today.  Students created original scenarios set in French-speaking countries where the French language was used to resolve a problem.