Free Voice

She arrived in France without knowing a word of French.
Twenty years later, it was she who introduced Italy to the Fontainebleau cultural season.
A profile of Giovanna Possamai, director of FLC, Rue du Mont Ussy.

On the first day of term, in early September, on Rue du Mont Ussy, the secretary hands out information, provides advice and helps pupils find their way. Teachers pop in to collect their keys and class lists. In the corridor, children who have only just learnt to walk pass adults who have well over eighty years old.

It’s a day just like a beehive.

The woman speaking has been running the organisation since 2018. She joined it thirteen years earlier, through an Italian course that nobody else was offering. And before that, there is a story that she herself sums up in a single sentence.

For me, it’s a story, it’s a novel.

To leave everything behind, without a word of French

Giovanna Possamai was trainee solicitor in Italy. She gave up everything for love, and found herself in France without speaking the language.

France, at that time, was the French Guiana. Given her literary background, she is keen to learn properly. Nine months of lessons, and she is already working with local organisations. She supports outreach workers in deprived neighbourhoods. She is already setting up film clubs there.

Cinema has always been a part of my life.

She then went on to teach Italian at the space centre, to French people who work with Italians, and translates for Italian companies based there. The thread running through the whole thing is already in place: a language, a screen, and people to connect.

2005, a new course

She arrives in Fontainebleau. Her children are enrolled in FLC activities. She spontaneously offers to teach an Italian class there. The association has none. She opens the first one.

Today, there are eight. And they’re always packed.

Why? Because it’s not just about learning grammar. There are cultural outings, film screenings and, sometimes, a trip to Italy.

For me, it’s all part of the learning process. Being fully immersed in it.

Whilst she was at it, she trained in yoga, gained a qualification in relaxation therapy, and started running relaxation and meditation classes. A teacher who is adding new strings to her bow, without letting go of her first.

The surprise

In 2018, the director of FLC stepped down. The board of directors turned to the woman who had been with the organisation for thirteen years and asked her to take over.

I said yes. I thought it was just a matter of lending a hand.

It was a proper job. She stayed.

Since then, her week has been unlike any other. Preparations for the following season begin as early as March, and the brochure goes to press in early June. If a teacher is absent on a Thursday evening, she’s the one who finds a stand-in. If a class is left without a teacher, she’s the one who recruits a replacement. And as events tend to fall at the weekend, she’s the one who opens the doors on Saturdays. The chairwoman has a saying for this: FLC is «an ocean liner, not a small, nimble boat». Giovanna Possamai is at the helm, supported by the members of the executive committee and the board of directors, alongside the two permanent staff members: Sophie Maréchal, who handles administrative matters, and Juliette Bonin, who is responsible for cultural mediation.

Meet

That’s where she made the biggest impact on the company. Cultural partnerships, that’s his trademark.

The gallery Fontainebleau, with whom FLC painted the participatory mural in the entrance hall during the community day. The History Talks at the Victoria Hotel. A brand-new partnership with the Institute of Political Studies, to open up the association to students. And, above all, Italy.

Together with the Cineblog association, she set up a annual Italian trilogy. In the first year, the partners, taking a cautious approach, scheduled just two films. The audience responded enthusiastically. The trilogy is now well established. The films are screened in their original language with subtitles; she introduces them, shares anecdotes, transports the audience back to the era, and then leads the discussion.

The film clubs focusing on Italian culture are my baby. They mean a great deal to me.

This season, she is adding talks in the form of travel diaries, to discover history through the accounts of those who lived through it. The first event is on Sunday 8 November : Magellan: the quest to push back the horizon, a talk hosted by Giulio Lucchini.

His method can be summed up in two sentences.

Fontainebleau is full of interesting people. You just need to go and meet them.

We have so many artists and craftspeople here. There’s no need to go all the way to Paris.

On 4 October, Italy sings on Rue du Mont Ussy

The tension building in French Guiana is leading straight to the first major event of the season. The Sunday 4 October at 3 pm, FLC welcomes the writer Luigi Cuna for Voci libere: the story of Italian singer-songwriting. And the encounter won’t just be recounted: the guitarist and singer Gianmarco Fusari, a renowned interpreter of Paolo Conte’s repertoire, will perform it live. Free admission.

A language, some songs, a hall full of Bellifontains. The story continues.

What cannot be seen

There is one aspect of his work that members hardly ever see, but which means a great deal to those it affects.

Giovanna Possamai is Sport Santé-certified. FLC works with the Maison Sport Santé in Fontainebleau, which refers people to them who have reached the end of their current programme but wish to continue with physical activity. About ten last year. For more complex cases, she has introduced a specific programme this season, involving a preliminary consultation. And when she feels that someone needs to go through the Maison Sport Santé first, she tells them so.

She is also disability liaison officer. She meets with people with disabilities before they enrol, discusses with them whether the course they are interested in is suitable, and checks with the teacher to ensure they can accommodate them.

It’s reassuring to know that there’s someone there who’s listening and looking after that person.

A big family, not a gym

When asked what FLC is, she doesn’t mention either courses or fees.

It’s not just a company. To me, FLC is like one big family where you can really flourish.

There are plenty of friendships. There have even been weddings. But the example closest to his heart is quite another. It is those elderly people who, having lost a spouse, have found a sense of community here. They came for a class. Now they organise outings amongst themselves, without the association having anything to do with it.

And then there are the newcomers, every year, who discover the city at the same time as they discover the association. They find their first network there, sometimes a job, often friends. An Italian woman who arrived without speaking a word of French knows better than anyone just how valuable that is.

Three questions for Giovanna Possamai

How would you introduce FLC to someone who has just arrived in Fontainebleau?
«You have the opportunity to join the oldest association in Fontainebleau, where you’ll find plenty of scope to flourish. And you can play an active part in it, because volunteers and people who come up with ideas are always welcome.»

What would Fontainebleau lose if FLC were to cease to exist?
«A source of peace of mind and social connection.»

What would you say to someone who’s hesitating to sign up?
«To come along to a taster session. And to come and experience the atmosphere at a talk or a concert. That’s where they’ll get a real sense of what the organisation is all about.»

In practice

FLC, Fontainebleau Leisure and Culture. Maison des Associations, 6 Rue du Mont Ussy, 77300 Fontainebleau. 01 64 22 09 98, flc-fontainebleau.fr.

Over 1,200 members, aged between two and eighty-seven, covering five areas: music, dance, wellbeing, visual and decorative arts, culture, languages and leisure. Trial lessons are available for all activities.

Next meeting: Voci libere, with Luigi Cuna and Gianmarco Fusari, Sunday 4 October at 3.00 pm, free admission.

A taster lesson costs nothing. Neither does a Sunday spent learning Italian.