Canadian Parents for French (CPF) Cochrane Chapter is sponsoring a free French language movie on Friday, Jan. 17 at 4 pm at the Cochrane Movie House.
The CPF Family Film Festival invites the Cochrane and area community and all hockey enthusiasts to The Rocket (2006), their second French language film in the series.
The Rocket is a PG rated French movie with English subtitles about hockey legend Maurice Richard and his inspirational journey from underdog to being one of the best in the NHL.
Working-class Quebecois hockey player Richard (Roy Dupuis) becomes a hero to French Canadians as he stars for the famous Montreal Canadiens in the 1940s and '50s. One of the few French players in an English league, Richard has a chip on his shoulder and suffers subtle discrimination at the hands of the owner and other players. When his temper boils over during a game in Boston, he is suspended by league president Clarence Campbell (Tedd Dillon), and his fans riot in the streets.
This is a free film thanks to supporters Hal Wolf and his staff at Cochrane Movie House, The Town of Cochrane, and Canadian Parents for French.
From the CPF website:
“CPF engages with national stakeholders involved in official languages and linguistic duality to create an environment supportive of French-second-language (FSL) education across Canada. CPF Branches and Offices work with provincial and territorial departments of education, school boards and community stakeholders providing FSL resources to parents and educators and promoting French language learning and cultural activities for youth in their regions.
“In 1977, Keith Spicer was serving as Canada’s first-ever Commissioner of Official Languages. Interested in the bilingualism of Canada’s youth, he met with groups of parents across Canada who wanted their children to learn French as a second language (FSL) but who ran into roadblocks at the local school boards.
“To get the ball rolling, Mr. Spicer offered to find some seed money—enough to organize a national conference of like-minded parents. The result was an event called “Parents’ Conference on French Language and Exchange Opportunities,” which took place in Ottawa in March of 1977. It was during this weekend-long conference that Canadian Parents for French was officially founded as a volunteer-based advocacy group, a collective of parents who wanted to ensure that children would have the opportunity to become bilingual in the Canadian school system.”
The next free film will be on National Film Day, Wednesday, April 16.
CPF has branches across Canada and is a national network of parents, volunteers, and advocates dedicated to the promotion and creation of French-second-language learning opportunities for young Canadians. The non-profit organization offers free membership and has spent 47 years promoting French for Canadians reaching 87,000 youth. Visit cpf.ca to learn more.
