Didier Talpain, consul general of France, and Nicolas Facino, director of Alliance Francaise du Bengale, formed a formidable partnership during the four years they spent in Calcutta. Under their leadership, the consulate general and the cultural centre paired up to present several important cultural events. “It’s time to come out! I am his father,” Talpain, always a witty one, laughed out loud when t2 proposed a joint exit interview, considering the close professional bond the two Frenchmen had struck. “You were the first to interview me when I arrived. It is fitting that you are the last to do so before I leave,” Facino told t2. Thus ensued their trip down Calcutta memory lane on a rain-drenched afternoon in Alipore.

Both of you must be all packed.

Nicolas Facino: Yes, lots of luggage, because it was very tempting to discover the craft of Bengal. I fell to the temptation. Recently, I was in Pingla and came back with a few rolls of paintings (patachitra). So I carry a part of Bengal with me when I leave on Tuesday (September 2).
Didier Talpain: That’s it. It’s time to turn the page. I leave tomorrow. (August 29)

In our first interview,
M. Talpain, we had brought a bamboo flute for you on hearing you are a flautist. Are you taking back any musical instruments from Bengal?

DT: Not really, apart from your flute. I heard many times when the bands were playing classical Indian music or Sufi music. I attended many of them in different parts of my jurisdiction. In Nagaland, there was the Hornbill festival and in Manipur, the Sangai festival. There were a lot of interesting performances.

Both of you arrived in the middle of the pandemic within a month of each other in 2021 — M. Talpain in the middle of Durga puja in October, and Nicolas soon after, in November. How chaotic were those times?

DT: Yes, I remember that Durga Puja. I arrived the day before the first day. It was very exciting, because you felt like something was going to happen.

But at the same time, it was a smaller Durga puja, because of Covid. People were still wearing masks, and Durga puja then was not what I was to discover the festival to be the year after. Still, it was a very nice introduction.

What were the challenges in that Covid period of running the consulate or getting to know a new city?

DT: Yeah, some things were not possible, like the gatherings, the invitations, the parties, which are part of the diplomatic social life... But after eight months, it became okay.

And you, Nicolas, had to run an institute which involved taking classes. How did you tackle that?

NF: When I arrived, classes were fully in online mode. From February or March, we were allowed to open the doors. It was a good thing, because even if the majority at the beginning still preferred to have online classes, certain groups of students wanted to come back. And now I’d say, 70 per cent attend classes in physical mode, and 30 per cent in online or hybrid mode, because they are far from Calcutta. We encourage students to come because they can experience the French courses in different ways. They can make friends with other students, see each other after classes, attend the library, the cafe, the cultural events....

So are you continuing in part in hybrid mode?

NF: Yeah, it was one of the possibilities that Covid brought. We have full online mode, full physical, hybrid, one-day physical one day-online and we also have co-modal classes. It means that in the same room, thanks to new digital equipment, we have physical students, and on the screen, we have online students. So it’s also a new way for the teachers to teach.

Once your National Day reception had to be postponed because so many of you got infected.

DT: Yes. It was towards the end of the pandemic — in July 2022.

On to happier thoughts. The two of you forged a great partnership and the consulate has worked more closely with Alliance Francaise than ever in recent memory. You started two big properties — the French Film Festival and the Western music concerts.

DT: For the concerts, it was a common idea because Nicolas was the head of Alliance Francaise in Lviv (in Ukraine) just before this. He used to hold nice concerts with the local artistes. Of course, I did the same where I was posted and being a musician myself. So it was a shared idea. As for the French film festival, during my cultural career, I have organised some festivals. So I had quite a sound idea of what a French film festival abroad could look like. So I proposed the idea to Nicolas.

You had mentioned handing a white envelope to him, right?

DT: Absolutely. And inside the white envelope, there was a rough sketch of what it (the festival) could be. And then he worked it out. He created a very successful Indian section of the festival, which was not my idea,
NF: I consider myself very lucky to have been posted at the same time as Didier. He has more experience than me because he has had a long career in the cultural field. We immediately noticed that we spoke the same language. And it’s also a question of passion, because he has lots of passion, mainly in music. He is an inspiring person to work with. He allowed Alliance Francaise to think, to dream bigger. Even though I am a music lover, my passion is cinema. So I was very keen also to develop the festival — to imagine a new section on Indian filmmakers selected in Cannes and invite prestigious guests — in spite of some people, not in Calcutta, who tried to discourage us.

What kind of discouragement did you face?

DT: They said it is going to be complicated. “Don’t get into this adventure. You may fail.…” But finally it worked.

You also managed to include personalities from the Mumbai film industry, which raised the stature of the festival.

NF: Yeah, and also it is because of the personality of the (French) filmmakers. We know how the Nouvelle Vague has influenced the cinematic world, mainly in Bengal. Bengal is a lover of the Nouvelle Vague. Cinema lovers got to watch hundreds of French movies. And I thought of Anurag Kashyap. He was very excited to come (last year) because he got a chance to see French classics on the big screen at Nandan.

You also got Naseeruddin Shah for this year’s festival.

NF: Naseerudin is also a lover of French theatre. He’s a fan of Samuel Beckett — Waiting for Godot. Even though he was not French but Irish, Beckett wrote mainly in French. I think there is this connection of Nouvelle Vague also.

With both of you gone, are you worried about the fate of the properties?

DT: No. As we are used to saying in French, we give over the keys of the truck. Now it’s for them (successors) to play. They will bring new things, continue some, discontinue some others. They are not obliged at all to take (these events as) their heritage. I’d recommend to them to continue at least the French film festival, which has made its place in the cultural landscape of Calcutta at the end of winter after the Kolkata International Film Festival and the Children’s Film Festival. As French, we have this formidable tool in French cinema, which is one of the leading cinemas of the world, along with Indian and American ones. So it should be good for them to continue. But it’s up to them.

What news of the Registry Building in Chandernagore?

DT: It’s about to start. The French side has completed its work. So now it’s a question of the launch. It might have been done during my time, may be last week. But it was not convenient for some officials. So this will be a very good beginning for my successor. The renovation should start in September.

The impressions of the city that you came here with, and the memories that you carry back, how different are they?

DT: It’s much more noisy than was expected (laughs). I knew beforehand as I was posted in south Asia already.

You were in Karachi, right?

DT: Yes. It’s quite different for many reasons, but at the same time, there are similarities. So I was already accustomed to South Asia, but in a different way. So it was not very difficult to come across Calcutta. The good thing: I was astonished by the vitality of the culture, of the cultural environment and the cultural stage. There are intellectuals here in every domain — literature or fine arts. I was somehow not expecting to meet such a lot of top artists.
NF: I’m so grateful for the hospitality of the Bengali people. Definitely it came as a great surprise and it contributed to four wonderful years. In addition to all the events that we did professionally, we met very interesting people — artists, travelers — and they were very keen to share their universe with us. And the humility of Bengali people — I experienced it so many times in Bengal.

Thanks to all this, I forgot the inconveniences of Calcutta — the mosquitoes, the heatwave.… I landed in Calcutta from Lviv, a city in Ukraine near the Polish border. They have these wonderful heritage buildings, churches with statues…The first time I landed in Calcutta, I found all the houses looking all the same near the Dum Dum airport. It was not the most beautiful part of Calcutta. So I was a bit depressed. When I came to Park Street, it was better. And now, because I have to go, I’m depressed.

You are leaving just before
Durga puja. Any thoughts on that?

DT: This year, the (Puja) dates are very close (to our departure) because of the moving calendar.

Earlier, it (Puja) was in the middle of October, and that would have been different. But somehow it feels as if the city is making a feast of our departure. “Finally, they are leaving!” (Laughs out loud)

A personal to-do box that you, M. Talpain, failed to tick is watching a tiger in the wild. How many times have you been to the Sundarbans?

DT: Seven times. Last time was last week.

Did His Majesty appear?

DT: No, there is no tiger (in the Sundarbans). I should tell everybody. My good friend, Debal Roy, the chief of wildlife in Bengal (principal secretary, department of forest), probably is not right. He’s saying there are some hundred tigers. No, I think it’s just for advertising! (Pauses) Of course, I’m joking! (Laughs out loud) I’ve seen so much else, including alligators, golden lizards.... But the most important reason for my last trip was a meeting. I travelled with people from the NGO News (Nature Environment & Wildlife Society) to visit the green brigade, women fighting against climate change and very specifically, replanting mangroves. They do a wonderful job. We try to help them, not directly, but through the Sundeep Bhutoria Foundation, which helped them in installing some solar panels on their big room where they hold their seed collection discussion. I wanted to see how their electricity worked. The guy from News said that there are some 70 groups of women, 30 to 60 years of age, who are doing this job.

Nicolas, have you ticked all your boxes for the stay?

NF: It’s always frustrating to not have time to learn the local language. I would have liked to have dedicated more time for Bengali language learning. I tried but because of all the events, it was not possible.

Both of you did pick up traditional Indian dresses and walked the ramp. Was it your debut being part of a fashion show?

DT: Yes, I think I never did it before. I think it was a world premiere!NF: I did. In Lviv, there was the fashion week. We had invited a French-Swiss fashion designer. She proposed that I wore some things.

Your favourite haunts in the city.

NF: I always like to walk in Kumartuli. It is a place where you can walk. There is a special ambience with the Durga Puja preparations going on. And you can finish on the edge of the Ganges, especially if you go in the sunset hours. And also, of course, Victoria (Memorial) and Park Street.DT: The Botanical Gardens. It is not far from my place. I am often there. It is a nice place to walk or run, not on the red carpet, but on the red path.

Any local dishes that you are happy to order?

DT: The mustard fish wrapped in banana leaf (paturi) plus this dessert with the white balls (rasogolla). I am also very fond of momos. I could eat only momos.N.F: The paturi and grilled ilish. I come from Marseilles. In Bengal, it seems it is a big constraint to propose fish with bones. I was always warned in advance, But in Marseilles, we eat fish with bones. Also my favourite dish is biryani.

Where do you go next?

DT: It’s going to be a mission in Saudi Arabia.NF: I go back to France. May be in a few years, I could come back to India. I want to. I am sad to leave Calcutta. The connection was very strong.