Brazil 2009: Year of France and the Little Prince

  • 14 octobre 2009
2009 is the Year of France in Brazil, which is hosting a number of French cultural and artistic events. Brazil is also a great friend to the Little Prince and to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Which explains why the city of São Paulo is hosting an exhibition dedicated exclusively to Saint-Exupéry and the Little Prince.

 

The venue

The Oca pavilion is a futuristic building designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1954. This giant exhibition pavilion, totalling 10,771 m² on four floors, is renowned for staging world-class art exhibitions. The Oca stands in Ibirapuera Park, in the very heart of São Paulo.

 

The exhibition

The concept is as simple as it is appealing: whisk adults and children away on a journey into the world of the Little Prince, his philosophy, and the thinking of his author. Each floor constitutes a world of its own. At the start, the first exhibition space presents Saint-Exupéry, his period, his work and the origins of the Little Prince. The visitor then travels onwards through a series of themed worlds (the desert, the stars, the cosmos, etc.). Spaces like the Little Prince Cinema will offer the visitor an insight into the link to Saint-Exupéry’s book « Wind, Sand and Stars » (Terre des Hommes).

 

Saint-Exupéry’s message to mankind is one of fraternity, and serves as a touchstone for more contemporary commitments. The exhibition offers an opportunity to explore « new territories » for the Little Prince such as protecting the environment, promoting the rights of the child or caring for sick children at the Pequeno Principe Hospital.

 

Son et lumière shows, dedicated sets and multimedia events immerse the visitor in another world, a different universe of which he becomes an integral part.

 

If this article sounds a little like a movie trailer, that’s because our team will soon be heading out to São Paulo, and it will be our great pleasure to share with you our experiences of this unique universe, the only one of its kind in the world, dedicated to the Little Prince. More later.

 

And why not share your views on the forum?

Saint-Exupéry – La Dernière Mission prestige edition

  • 13 octobre 2009

Corsica, 30 July 1944. At the age of 44, squadron leader and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (played by Bernard Giraudeau) is preparing for what will prove to be his last mission. During the 48 hours leading up to that fateful final take-off, the aviator and poet reflects on the highlights of his life and all those he has loved.

 

 

We recently reported the DVD release of the film Saint-Exupéry – La Dernière Mission. Now the Robert Enrico film is coming out in a collector’s edition DVD (limited to 4,000 copies).
The boxed set contains the two-DVD collection (the film itself and a documentary on the aviator’s disappearance), a 24-page booklet recounting the life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and, perhaps best of all, a scale model of the P-38 Lighting F5B no. 223, the aircraft the pilot flew on his reconnaissance missions. The all-metal model measures 15.5 cm x 21.5 cm and comes with a special display stand.

 

Visit the Little Prince online store for details of the boxed set

 

 

And why not share your views on the forum?

The Little Prince by Nicolin

  • 12 octobre 2009

Where on earth is the Little Prince running to? Has he missed the flight of the wild geese? Has his sheep escaped? Has he forgotten to cut a baobab shoot? The story does not say – it is left to our imagination. The author of this drawing is the illustrator Nicolas Mazière, alias Nicolin. Well known on the web for his animated films with their zany characters, Nicolin also told a wonderful story called The fabulous destiny of Amélie Pingouin. Behind his humour that dabbles in everything and anything, the illustrator from Marseille wants just one thing – to entertain us.

 

Nicolin’s work can be seen on his personal web site.

 

Discuss on the Forum.


The fabulous destiny of Amélie Pingouin
 

Did you know ? James Dean, an idol and fan of The Little Prince

  • 9 octobre 2009
he Hollywood child prodigy was a great fan of the Little Prince. It is said he identified with the character (for his youth and fragility) to the point that when he phoned the musician Alec Wilder he is supposed to have said: “Hello Mr Wilder, it’s the Little Prince.” Just like Orson Welles, he apparently thought of taking it to the screen.

 

 

 

 

In 1997 a monument was erected at the place where his accident took place in Cholame (California); on it is written “what is essential is invisible to the eye,” a quotation from the Little Prince that was close to James Dean’s heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laliberté goes into space

  • 6 octobre 2009
Guy Laliberté, the founder of the Cirque du Soleil and the One Drop foundaciation, took off for the stars on 30 September 2009. The 12 day space voyage is part of a campaign to raise awareness about the scarcity of water in some countries in the world. The eternal clown Guy Laliberté has taken his red nose and a copy of the Little Prince with him as a way of demonstrating that this trip is a childhood dream come true. This new space tourist even plans on sharing the book with the spaceship’s crew. And during his stay the “space clown” will give several performances including a special show beamed from the international space station on 9 October.

 

The « space clown’s » arrival in space station

 

The story of The Little Prince

  • 5 octobre 2009
And it is rightly about encounters. For her new show Véronique Deroide decided to tell the story of The Little Prince – not reading but telling the story. Simply presented, sometimes accompanied by music and following the purest oral tradition, the storyteller brings alive the meeting between a lost aviator and a small boy looking for a friend.

 

14 October at 5:00 p.m.: performance open to the public
15 and 16 October: schools performances at 2:30 p.m.
17 October: performance open to the public at 7:00 p.m.
Duration: 60 min

 

At the Roll Mop’s Théâtre
Bd Kennedy – 62200 Boulogne-sur-mer
Tel: 03 21 87 27 31 or theatre.rollmops@wanadoo.fr

The Little Prince as seen by Holly

  • 2 octobre 2009

Holly is a young blogger who is a student following a preparatory arts course. On her blog you can find amusing anecdotes about her life in Paris and share her reactions. She’s a great admirer of Disney and she’s fabulous at drawing princesses and other characters from the world of her imagination. Today our talented artist has drawn the little prince on his planet, looking at a rose.

 

You can find Holly’s adventures on her blog and on her professional site

Sad news from New York

  • 1 octobre 2009

In Manhattan, in the heart of the Rockefeller Center there is a French bookstore called the Librairie de France. It was founded 73 years ago by Isaac Molho at the request of David Rockefeller, the millionaire and “host” to French intellectuals fleeing the rise of Nazism in Europe.
The bookstore was hugely successful during the Second World War, became a publishing house and published authors such as André Maurois, Jules Romain and… Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. A golden era for the bookstore, which in order to respond to demand had 2 tonnes of books delivered a week!
Later on the bookstore became THE place for all Francophiles to meet up. In 2009, with a massive increase in rental, from 360,000 to 1 million dollars, the bookstore has to close. So if you are a lover of old books or a friend of Saint-Exupéry and are visiting New York, why not pay a visit to its old location…

Did you know? The Little Prince exists in every language

  • 30 septembre 2009
The story has been translated into a total of 210 languages and dialects. Convincing proof of its universal appeal: Le Petit Prince speaks every language, and to every inhabitant of our planet. Read the article on this publishing phenomenon here.

 

And did you know that there are people all over the world who collect editions of The Little Prince? While their bookshelves might look similar, each collector has his or her own unique motivation. Meet the collectors.

Maiden flight of the Bréguet XIV

  • 29 septembre 2009
Of the various aircraft in service with the Aéropostale mail service, the Bréguet XIV was one of the planes that flew the Toulouse-Casablanca-Dakar routes. This fine aircraft was also used to open up sections for new lines in Brazil,  Uruguay and Argentina. Between 1917 and 1926, over 8,000 models were built. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry himself flew a Bréguet XIV during his time as a pilot for l’Aéropostale.

 

The Bréguet XIV association has completed a remarkable challenge: rebuilding a Bréguet XIV from scratch. Starting in 1992, the members of the association began building this emblem of man’s conquest of the air from the original blueprints. On 11 November 2003, the Bréguet XIV made her first test flight. A year later, the association was awarded a Bronze Medal by the  Académie Nationale de l’Air et de l’Espace.

 

On 3 September 2009, after several test flights and final adjustments, the Bréguet XIV received her airworthiness certificate from the French civil aviation authority, the Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile. The following day, the aircraft was issued with its registration number: F-POST.

F-POST, the only airworthy Bréguet XIV in the world, will make her maiden flight on Saturday 3 October 2009, at 11 a.m., from the Castelsarrasin-Moissac airfield

 

Find out more: breguet14 @orange.fr