The French embassy is planning to invite French authors, editors and publishing houses during the International Book Fair in Doha in December. A well-known French film director may also be on the list if everything falls into place. French Ambassador Gilles Bonnaud said he is delighted the Ministry of Culture has picked the French Embassy as the Guest of Honour for this year’s International Book Fair, and outlined grand plans for the event, which will be held from December 30 to January 8. Bonnaud, during an interview, said to meet the challenge of holding big events on the occasion, the French Embassy, which is working closely with the Ministry of Culture, has lined up major ideas that focus on not only books but culture in general. He said they were planning on inviting editors from France, French authors and French publishing houses, especially the Actes Sud – a French publishing company that buys the copyright of Arab authors’ works and translates them into French. A French Embassy spokesperson said they were planning on putting up a French pavilion – Café Litteraire – during the book fair. The pavilion will be a place where people can gather and listen to some of the authors reading from their books. Children have not been left out in the planning as a major French publishing company for children is planning on bringing in French books for children of all ages. As the event won’t be only about books, Bonnaud said the book fair will include exhibitions, conferences and some concert performances. The French Embassy spokesperson said they were planning to host the French Film Festival around the same time as the International Book Fair as part of their plans is to invite French and Arab celebrities and even a French director who were part of film adaptations of bestseller books. “We are planning on having the French Film Festival from January 3 to 7… but we are still waiting for confirmation… We are still finalising the programme for this… and we cannot announce anything definite just yet,” the spokesperson said. “One thing is definite, however — the Ministry of Culture is helping us financially with all this and we want everything to succeed.” http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=September2009&file=Local_News200909162344.xml

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