Child (member)

$7

Child (non-member)

$10

Adult (member)

$9

Adult (non-member)

$12

*Every child under 12 years old must be accompanied by an adult.

About the Film

Hilarious and frequently surreal, the stop-motion extravaganza A Town Called Panic has endless charms and raucous laughs for children from eight to eighty. Based on the Belgian animated cult TV series (which was released by Wallace & Gromit’s Aardman Studios), A Town Called Panic stars three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse who share a rambling house in a rural town that never fails to attract the weirdest events.

Cowboy and Indian’s plan to gift Horse with a homemade barbeque backfires when they accidentally buy 50 million bricks. Whoops! This sets off a perilously wacky chain of events as the trio travel to the center of the earth, trek across frozen tundra and discover a parallel underwater universe of pointy-headed (and dishonest!) creatures. Each speedy character is voiced—and animated—as if they are filled with laughing gas. With panic a permanent feature of life in this papier-mâché burg, will Horse and his equine paramour—flame-tressed music teacher Madame Longray (Jeanne Balibar)—ever find a quiet moment alone? A sort of Gallic Monty Python crossed with Art Clokey, A Town Called Panic is zany, brainy and altogether insane-y!

About the filmmakers

Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar studied at La Cambre, the Belgian school of visual arts. Their animated shorts include the Pic Pic André Show trilogy (1995–99), Les Baltus au cirque (1998), UFO boven geel (1999), La Rupture (2000) and episodes of the award-winning series A Town Called Panic (Panique au village)(2000–03), which inspired their 2009 feature debut of the same name. A comic book series and children's book based on the characters in A Town Called Panic will soon be released.




Watch the trailer:

Sponsors

This program is made possible thanks in part to the Mosaïque Cultural Fund and Steven Galante, Chairman of the French Library.

MosaiqueCharter1Web_Logo Rose-Noir ss Fund

New Cinema Programming

Starting this Spring, cinema is taking the leap at the French Library. We have revisited and expanded our programming to offer you new ways to experience the best of French and Francophone cinema. While continuing the monthly Ciné-Clubs to catch up on recent films from the Francophone world, we are launching Ciné-Rétro, a two-evening marathon to discover or re-discover some 1940s to 1970s French classics and Ciné-Loulous, where children and their families can enjoy French animated gems followed by arts and crafts activities inspired by the film. As always, you will be able to mingle and discuss the films with our in-house film expert, fellow cinéphiles and francophiles.

Upcoming Events

Screening

Soirée Ciné : Arrête avec tes Mensonges

Co-presented with Wicked Queer

Friday, April 21, 2023 6:30 PM To 9:30 PM

Join us for this screening of Arrête avec tes Mensonges, co-presented with Wicked Queer Film Festival.

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Conference

The impressionist revolutions

In person Master Class: French Culture and History

From Apr 4, 2023 To Apr 25, 2023 6:30 PM To 7:30 PM

Master class on Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Paul Cézanne and Auguste Renoir: four sessions and one Museum of Fine Arts visit to better understand the French impressionists.

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Lecture

Musiciennes de légende by Marina Chiche

Author talk and book signing

Friday, April 7, 2023 6:30 PM To 8:00 PM

The French Library is pleased to welcome award-winning French violinist and author Marina Chiche. Marina will tell us more about her work on making classical music accessible to the widest audience possible and highlighting exceptional women performers forgotten by history because of their gender.

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