Cécile Mouette Downs, Executive and Artistic Director. Co-founder of the SFFF.

Cécile Mouette Downs, a native of France, is co-founder of the Sacramento French Film Festival. Before moving to Sacramento in 2001, Cécile worked for 3 years at the Film Department of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York City. There she promoted French films and television programs in the United States, and helped theaters, museums, universities and various festivals feature recent and classic French films. She organized receptions, film screenings, press lunches and other events and was a press contact for the French films selected at the New York's French Film Festival, Rendez Vous with French Cinema, and at the New York Film Festival. She also curated experimental video shows at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan. From 1992 to 1998, Cécile worked as a Press Officer for the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (the French FCC) in Paris. She holds a Master of Arts in History from the University Paris X, on French Catholics and Cinema. In 2010, Cécile received the Arts Executive of the Year Award from the Sacramento Arts & Business Council. In 2013, she was appointed to the prestigious order of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.

cecile(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

John Downs, Technical Director & Officer on the Board of Directors

John, a native Californian, moved to Sacramento in 2000. He is an aquatic and wetland ecologist for the State of California and a member of the American Whitewater Association. An amateur musician (ukulele, guitar and most recently trumpet), he is an avid swimmer and cyclist and enjoys snowboarding, kayaking, kinetic sculpture, France, and French cinema. One college film appreciation class taught him that good films inspire, make you feel, emote, and connect... He is a student of the human condition and enjoys the realism and the absurd that the French bring to the screen. His candid eye and opinion are a great help when it comes to constructing a balanced and accessible program! John is also our talented short film projectionist.

john(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

Jane Berner, Managing Director & Treasurer of the Board of Directors

Jane has been a volunteer with the Sacramento French Film Festival since its first edition. After growing up in Sacramento, Jane left for college in Chicago and, while pursuing a degree in economics, also explored her love of film and the arts. She volunteered for the University of Chicago’s DOC Films student-run cinema and worked for six years as a feature film programmer for the Chicago International Film Festival. She now uses that experience to advise the SFFF on film selection and also handles administrative and financial duties. While she still has a passion for film, she has pursued a professional career in urban planning. She received her master’s degree from UCLA and has worked as a transportation planner in both the public and private sector.

jane(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

Kevin Elstob, President

Belovingly nicknamed “Le Professeur” by our audience, Kevin Elstob conducts most post-screening discussions at the SFFF, and at our other events. His knowledge of both French cinema and French culture provides our audience with the most insightful Q&A sessions.
Since working on the theatre of French playwright Michel Vinaver for his PhD, Elstob has continued to examine ways in which the visual arts, particularly theatre and film, portray French and francophone culture. He has taught a number of classes on francophone film and in which films in French are investigated as linguistic, geographic, historic, and social canvases. Elstob is board president of the Sacramento French Film Festival and former president and founding member of the Alliance Française de Sacramento. He loves to play pétanque and is a qualified pétanque umpire. He has published articles and given papers on French, American, and Québécois theatre and film. His particular area of interest is cultural representations on stage and screen.

kelstob(at)saclink.csus.edu

Jo Oseman, Secretary

Originally from the UK, Jo had been living in France for three years when she moved to Sacramento in 2006. She discovered the Sacramento French Film Festival in 2007, and she signed up to volunteer the very next year. Jo joined to planning committee four years ago and her primary responsibilities revolve around the catered receptions held at the beginning and end of each festival season. From soliciting donations to mapping out the event and directing volunteers, Jo coordinates these receptions from start to finish. Drawn to the festival by her love of cinema, Jo has a love of French culture and of foreign languages in general. Her professional background lies in translation and localization. With experience as a French translator and project manager, Jo works now as Client and Account Manager for a local Language Services Provider.

joanna(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

Jane Berner, Managing Director & Treasurer of the Board of Directors

Jane has been a volunteer with the Sacramento French Film Festival since its first edition. After growing up in Sacramento, Jane left for college in Chicago and, while pursuing a degree in economics, also explored her love of film and the arts. She volunteered for the University of Chicago’s DOC Films student-run cinema and worked for six years as a feature film programmer for the Chicago International Film Festival. She now uses that experience to advise the SFFF on film selection and also handles administrative and financial duties. While she still has a passion for film, she has pursued a professional career in urban planning. She received her master’s degree from UCLA and has worked as a transportation planner in both the public and private sector.

jane(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

Jennifer Gravvat, Officer & Volunteer Coordinator

Jennifer Gravvat, a native Sacramentan, is a graduate of CSU, Sacramento with a bachelor's degree in French and Liberal Studies and is currently an elementary school teacher. Jennifer lived in Aix-en-Provence, France for two years as a student of l'Université d'Aix-en-Provence, where she fell in love with France, the French people, and French culture. She has been a volunteer with the SFFF since 2004, and became a core member of the SFFF Planning Committee in 2006. She flawlessly accomplishes the difficult task of being Volunteer Coordinator and loves it

jennifer(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

John Downs, Officer

John, a native Californian, moved to Sacramento in 2000. He is an aquatic and wetland ecologist for the State of California and a member of the American Whitewater Association. An amateur musician (ukulele, guitar and most recently trumpet), he is an avid swimmer and cyclist and enjoys snowboarding, kayaking, kinetic sculpture, France, and French cinema. One college film appreciation class taught him that good films inspire, make you feel, emote, and connect... He is a student of the human condition and enjoys the realism and the absurd that the French bring to the screen. His candid eye and opinion are a great help when it comes to constructing a balanced and accessible program! John is also our talented short film projectionist.

john(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

Chris Tafoya, Officer

You may have caught a glimpse of the always sartorially turned-out Mr. Tafoya bicycling around midtown. He may very well have been on his way to a SFFF meeting. He was born and raised in Woodland, California, before moving to the “big city” in 1990 and becoming a man about town. He has many interests in the arts but is best known for his extensive film knowledge and a lifelong love of movies. He has also regularly imbibed French music since discovering his parents' soundtrack to “Un Homme et Une Femme” when he was seven years old. Currently he DJ's for the opening and closing night parties at the SFFF, for the Serge! Party, and for the Bastille Day Party organized by the Handle District. He has been instrumental in creating the Serge! Gainsbourg Tribute Party and making it blossom into an annual Sacramento tradition- because if there’s one thing Chris enjoys, it’s throwing a party. He also mixes a wicked cocktail! He provides make-up and costume for our posters and the décor for most of our events. Ardent Francophile Chris has spent time in Paris and is looking forward to exploring other parts of France in the future.

christophe(at)sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org

Connie Georgiu, Co-Founder of the SFFF

Connie Georgiu obtained a B. A. in French literature from Luther College and went on to teach high school French and English for three years. But her primary career has been as co-founder and VP of Operations for Alltest, Inc. in the Chicago area and co-owner of two tech firms in California. She is a past board member of the Alliance Française de Sacramento and co-founded the Sacramento French Film Festival where she served as the Director of Administration for the first seven festivals. She has extensive experience serving on fundraisers for the Crocker Art Museum, The SPCA, and the Gardeners of the Grove, travels frequently (often to France) and, like her fellow board members, is passionate about French cinema, French culture and the SFFF!

Julia Broughton, Raffle Coordinator

Julia Broughton is a Sacramento native who graduated from CSUS with a B.A. in Art Education and a minor in French. It was her french professor, Kevin Elstob, who first introduced Julia to the SFFF. She started volunteering several years ago and recently became a member of the planning committee. When not planning with the committee she spend her days working for the State of California and moonlights as a competitive dancer on a lindy hop team. She also enjoys sewing, pottery making and reading.

j.broughton91(at)gmail.com

Benz Doctolero, Technical Coordinator & Projectionist

Erika Hernandez, Event Coordinator

Erika Hernandez is a yearbook and bilingual sales marketing representative for a local photography company. She has a B.A in Philosophy with extensive course work in Art History and Art Education. Erika grew up in East Los Angeles where the smog is thick and the traffic is unsettling. As kids she took the metro and walked everywhere. Her love for books, museums, Art Deco architecture and French films stemmed from a long evening of walking in Hollywood and coming across the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax Ave. Erika befriended the projectionist and piano player and over the years they watched countless films together. Her love for foreign films, specifically French films developed during this time. It wasn’t until Erika moved to Sacramento in the spring of 2013 that she realized how much she missed those long walks in the warm summer L.A. nights. Erika attended her first SFFF at the Crest theatre that same year and shortly thereafter became a volunteer. She enjoys sharing her love for French films with others by freely giving her time, energy, and a friendly smile.

erikablue75(at)hotmail.com

In Sacramento
Cécile Mouette Downs
Jane Berner
Kevin Elstob

With the help, in Paris of:
Stéphanie Vasseur, Screenwriter & Filmmaker