Ten events organised by the diplomatic missions of Canada, France and Switzerland, together with the Alliance Françaisede Kotte and the French Teachers’ Association of Sri Lanka to celebrate International Francophonie Day, commenced on March 13 and will conclude on March 25.
They include a multi-disciplinary offer of movie screenings, concerts and conferences. The Festival opened on an online screening of the Canadian film “Antigone” (2019, 1h49) by Sophie Deraspe, presented by the Canadian High Commission.
March 20 is the International Francophonie Day, which celebrates every year the diversity of the French language and the French-speaking world.
According to the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF), there are around 300 million French speakers all over the world (2018 data), making it the 5th most-spoken language after Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish and Arabic. It is the only language, with English, to be used across five continents. It is the official language in 32 States and in many international organisations, including the United Nations.