The School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures would like present Brian Hawkins and his talk on Folklore of the Missouri French Creoles. 

Brian Hawkins is an artist and filmmaker whose current project, Toujours Icitte, is an upcoming feature-length documentary that explores the complex relationship between history and folklore in Old Mines, Missouri. 

Founded in 1723, Old Mines is one of the few places where the French culture of the Illinois Country persists, today. Renowned for preserving a vast body of oral literature, the unincorporated community 60 miles southwest of St. Louis, was the epicenter for a series of linguistic studies and preservation efforts throughout the 20th century. 

On February 15th, Brian will be presenting his research, a selection of documentary footage, and animations narrated in the local variety of the French language. Brian's animation, Chasse Galerite, based on the late Pete Boyer's telling of the folklore, has screened at numerous international festivals and was named best animated short at the Cinema on the Bayou festival in Lafayette, Louisiana.