Sandrine’s Paris

If you hate dance music, please look away now. Techtonik is the latest craze on the French Capital’s streets and nightclubs, an energetic dance style born out of South-eastern Paris clubland Metropolis. The music is a mix of techno/electro/hiphop, and the clothing is probably familiar to both old and nu-ravers, but it’s those moves that make Techtonik special. The trend has been spreading fast on the internet, with countless videos shot on mobile phones or webcams being posted daily on youtube and dailymotion.

There are several places where you can find people dancing techtonik on the streets, they often coincide with skateboard or rollerblading spots, try around Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo or the Trocadero. While the music itself is not to everyone’s taste, the great thing about Techtonik is its ability to bring together kids from very different backgrounds, from the deprived suburbs to the bourgeois of west Paris,  a healthy mix of influences has blended and something new has emerged. Wether it will last is another matter, in any case the kids are too busy having fun to ponder. 

After its release in France last year,  ”Paris je t’aime” is now available in the UK. It’s a collection of short stories by 18 well-know film directors, each revealing a different view over Love and the city. Together they provide a glimpse of how Love can be lived in so many different ways, and is such an important part of people’s personal histories. The stories themselves are far removed from the pink syrup stereotypes usually associated with Paris and its supposed romanticism, so instead we are given a window into each character’s emotional lives. It’s a very broad range, and you are bound to identify with a few of them, or maybe remember different moments in your own life. More than a film about Paris, this is an intensely human film that portrays the rich tapestry of human experience in all its different hues and shades. In this case the whole is certainly much greater than the sum of its parts. Check it at IMDB Directors: Bruno Podalydes, Gurinder Chadha, Gus Van Sant, Joel and Ethan Coen, Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas, Christopher Doyle, Isabel Coixet, Nobuhiro Suwa, Sylvain Chomet, Alfonso Cuaron, Olivier Assayas, Oliver Schmitz, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Wes Craven, Tom Tykwer, Frederic Auburtin & Gerard Depardieu, Alexander Payne  Also worth checking - Classics of French New Wave Cinema: