Gender representation and inequality will be highlighted as WKU participates in the Tournées Film Festival this year.

The free event will be held from Nov. 3-23 in Cherry Hall. The French film festival, hosted by WKU, strives to bring contemporary French cinema to American universities.

The event has several cosponsors: WKU’s English department, the Franco-American Cultural Fund, the Florence Gould Foundation, Highbrow Entertainment, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, and French Cultural Services and Campus France USA through the French Embassy in the U.S.

Films to be shown include “Un Jour Pina M’a Demandé,” “Clouds of Sils Maria,” “Bande de Filles,” “Timbuktu,” “Abus de Faiblesse” and “Deux Jours, Une Nuit.”

On Nov. 16, the festival will feature “Timbuktu” directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, and after the showing there will be a short discussion.

Eddy Cuisinier, French instructor in the department of modern languages, will help lead the discussion. Cusinier believes this event will have a cultural impact on every student who decides to go.

“It helps them see the diversity of the Francophone culture because these are movies that no one would see unless they knew what they were looking for,” Cusinier said.

Cusinier also noted this film will highlight how two cultures can speak the same language but still differ from one another.

Nov. 23, the last day of the festival, will feature the film “Deux Jours, Une Nuit.” In 2014, Marion Cotillard received an Academy Award nomination for best performance by an actress in a leading role for her work in the film.

Junior Trenton Marcum of London, Kentucky, attended the festival to support the film program.

“They were also showing a film I had never seen before,” Marcum said. “That’s one of the best things about the festival; it brings a sort of cultural enrichment and exposure to films from another nation.”

Jerod Hollyfield, assistant professor in the English and film departments, directs the festival at WKU.

Hollyfield said he will apply for the grant that allows WKU to host this event as often as possible. Hollyfield is motivated by the students who attend the festival.

“A lot of these films don’t play in Bowling Green, and the students don’t have the chance to go to Nashville or Louisville to see them,” Hollyfield said. “I like the discussions of teachers and students because they help to show students other cultures.”