People from all over the world meet on a weekly basis at the Atelier de conversation of the Bibliothèque publique d'information located in the Centre Pompidou in Paris to practise their French. Refugees of war sit together with businessmen, easy-going students next to victims of political persecution. As diverse as its members might be, they have one goal in common that connects all of them: to learn the language and find companions while living abroad – if not to survive living abroad. At this hopeful place, social and cultural borders dissolve. People, who otherwise would never have been in touch, meet eye to eye.
Conversation Studio Atelier de conversation
What's On
The Secret Agent O agente secreto
Kleber Mendonça Filho
Tuesday, 10. 03. 2026 / 17:15 / Main Hall
Kleber Mendonça Filho (Aquarius) vividly conjures the colours, smells and sounds of 1970s Brazil – a time “when the walls had ears and any movement could be suspicious”. The Secret Agent is an unpredictable and witty political thriller, but above all, a loving portrait of a place and its people. Winner of Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes, as well as Best Actor (Drama) and Best Non-English Language Film at the Golden Globe Awards.
Fiume o morte! Fiume o morte!
Igor Bezinović
Tuesday, 10. 03. 2026 / 19:30 / Small Hall
On 12 September 1919, a troop of some three hundred soldiers under the leadership of the flamboyant war-loving Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio swooped into the Northern-Adriatic port town of Fiume, now Rijeka, wanting to annex the city to Italy. Over the course of the next 16 months, during what is regarded as one of the most bizarre militant sieges of all time his official photography team captured over 10,000 images. A century later, Igor Bezinović orchestrates a direct-action history lesson focused on the siege and its modern-day implications.
A Poet Un poeta
Simón Mesa Soto
Tuesday, 10. 03. 2026 / 20:30 / Main Hall
A film that captures the poetic reality of a neurotic poet, skilfully blending cringe comedy with an emotionally resonant story of lost and rediscovered hope. A singular work with an unforgettable central character.