The Nuit des Idées project of the Institut français du Royaume-Uni runs over four days, from Tuesday 26 January to Friday 29 January 2021 and is preceded by a film programme Before The Night from 22 to 25 January 2021.

At a time when our salvation depends on the distance we observe from one another, when countries are redefining their borders and the planet is endangered by our way of life, isn't it time to reinvent new ways of being together? For the response to the current crises can only be a collective one.

The NIGHT OF IDEAS invites us to define what "being close" means today: is it to experience new solidarities? Is it breaking solitude by new means, in other ways? Is it a question of defining a new "we" beyond commonly accepted limits, be they geographical or human? To defend freedom of expression against ideological conformism and radicalism? Compairing, living together, conversing and debating: these are all ways of taking a new look at those around us, at greater or lesser distances. Sharing emotions and moments, confronting visions and ideas.

BEFORE THE NIGHT PROGRAMME

Friday, January 22nd

Launch of the Before the Night program

3:30 PM - Screening of Fritzi - a Revolutionary Tale (CinéKids)

6:30 PM - Free screening of Touki Bouki, as part of the African Cinema: Fractured Identities season presented by Kinyua Kamau, in partnership with the National Film & Television School (NFTS)

Saturday, January 23rd

6:30 PM - Free screening of Waiting for Happiness, part of the African Cinema: Fractured Identities season presented by Kinyua Kamau, in partnership with the National Film & Television School (NFTS)

Sunday, January 24th

18:30 - Free screening of Teza + My Love, Ethiopia as part of the African Cinema: Fractured Identities season presented by Kinyua Kamau, in partnership with the National Film & Television School (NFTS)

Monday 25 January

6:30 PM - Screening of Jacques Mayol: Dolphin Man (Arte) and the short film Mammalian Reflex (Centro of Capacitacion Cinematografica, Mexico City)

6:30 PM - Free screening of Lumumba, part of the African Cinema: Fractured Identities season presented by Kinyua Kamau, in partnership with the National Film & Television School (NFTS)

NIGHT OF IDEAS PROGRAM

Tuesday, January 26th

17:45-18:30: Speech to launch the Night of Ideas with Ambassador Catherine Colonna, Leila Slimani and Justine Simons (Culture Assistant at London City Hall).

18:35-19:35: Panel - Feeling for Others
The health crisis we are experiencing has produced new practices of sociability, a need for more inclusiveness and a call for compassion. What are the new solidarities that have emerged? To what extent can feeling or caring for others change our way of life?
with Rachel Cooke (Moderator), Christie Watson, Tinnekee Beckman, Sandra Laugier.

19:40-20:40: Panel - Lonely Together
Social media bring individuals together, opening them up to the world while enclosing them in bubbles of mimetic identification. Digital networks can increase social withdrawal, but it has also proved to be a unique way to combat lockdown loneliness. Can we be emotionally connected in the digital world?
With Tim Markham (Moderator), Fay Bound Alberti, Manuel Arias Maldonado, Clémentine Lalande.

Wednesday, January 27th

18:30-19:30: Screening of the first episode of Pierre Singaravélou's docu-series Décolonisations.

19:35-20:35: Panel - Old Empires and New Umpires
A half-century of post-colonial studies has enshrined the idea that empires have essentially undermined societies around the world and left psychological scars that may never heal. Contemporary anti-imperialists construct colonial empires as historical singularities that mankind has a moral duty not to replicate. Yet, aren't we witnessing a rebirth of imperialist temptations whose raison d'être seems more acceptable only because they are the product of new regional powers?
With Natalya Vince (Moderator), Olivette Otele, Pierre Singaravélou, Samir Puri.

Thursday, January 28th

13:00: Virtual Museum Opening. Little Night projects received over 25 French and British schools' contribution of postcard drawings on the topic TOGETHER

16:00 : Little Night: Turn it off and the world lights up with Mélanie Terrade, online workshop for 10 children. Draw maps, places or activities that the participants like, then paint some dots with photoluminescent paint. This workshop aims to exchange on the importance of human relationships.

18:05-19:05: Panel - Living With One Another
Now that the UK is not a member of the EU anymore, maybe it's time to question the European identity. Is the idea of "nation" back on tracks or are there new forms of social cohesion, a new sense of belonging and citizenship? Where do younger generations place their hopes? What do we mean when we say "we" on a political level?
With Matthew Parris (Moderator), Stephen Clarke, Robert Tombs, Ulrike Guerot, Louis Williams

19:10-20:10 : Panel - Speaking to Each Other
The social fabric is being ripped apart by violent forms of intolerance. The increasing number of conflicts born of intellectual oppositions often lead to radicalisation that affects us all. How can we produce a genuine debate of ideas while avoiding intolerance, exclusion or ideological conformism? Is free speech still a right?
With Philippe Sands (Moderator), Lionel Shriver, Anastasia Colosimo, Thomas Chatterton Williams.

Friday, January 29th

18:00-19:00 : Panel - Looking at Each Other
History of art can be read as an objectification of women. In this aspect, the "female gaze" we can now experience in some contemporary works of art is a real revolution, literally giving voice to the voiceless. But as we fight against old and rooted stereotypes, isn't there a risk of creating new ones?
With Lucy Kerbel (Moderator), Camille Morineau, Laure Prouvost, Fatos Ustek.

19:05-20:05: Panel - Different Together
Racial discrimination has been an awful part of European history. Successive waves of national emancipation and progressive laws have slowly built a theoretically inclusive society of equals, regardless of race or origin. However, aren't Africa and the people (wrongly or duly) associated to it still objectified in European discourse, be it artistic or political?
With Anne Elisabeth Moutet (Moderator), Patrice Naiambana, Chi-Chi Nwanoku, Pap Ndiaye.

20:10-21:40: Closing concert with the pianist Angèle David-Guillou.