French (surname)

French is an anglicised version of Defreine which has a Norman Irish origin.

The DeFreines, the ffrenches, and the Frenches, who were of noble blood, came to Ireland with Strongbow during the Norman invasion of Ireland from 1169 to 1172 AD. There were and still are two or three families of Irish peers who carry the names DeFréine, ffrench, and French. As Anglo-Normans the French family became one of the 14 Tribes of Galway, helping to found the town in 1425 AD, fortifying it to keep the locals out.

French is or was the family name of the following individuals (alphabetized by first name):

French people

The French (French: Français) are a nation and ethnic group who are identified with the country of France. This connection may be legal, historical, or cultural. Descending from peoples of Celtic (Gauls) origin, later mixing with Romance (Romans) and Germanic (Franks) origin, and having experienced a high rate of inward migration since the middle of the 19th century, modern French society can be considered a melting pot. France was still a patchwork of local customs and regional differences in the late 19th century, and besides the common speaking of the French language, the definition of some unified French culture is a complex issue. Some French have equated their nationality with citizenship, regardless of ethnicity or country of residence.

Successive waves of immigrants during the 19th and 20th centuries were rapidly assimilated into French culture. Seeing itself as an inclusive nation with universal values, France has always valued and strongly advocated assimilation where immigrants were expected to adhere to French traditional values and cultural norms. However, despite the success of such assimilation, the French Government abandoned it in the mid-1980s encouraging immigrants to retain their distinctive cultures and traditions and requiring from them a mere integration. This "integrationist" policy has recently been called into question, for example, following the 2005 French riots in some troubled and impoverished immigrant suburbs.

List of territorial entities where French is an official language

As of 2015, there are 29 independent nations where French is an official language. The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where French is an official or de facto language.

Countries where French is an official language of the country

Dependent entities where French is an official language

Sub-national regions located within countries where French is an official national language are not included in this list. The five overseas regions of France (Départements d'Outre-Mer, or DOM): Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion, have the same status as metropolitan France and are not listed here. French has a certain legal status in the American state of Louisiana but it's not considered de jure official.

See also

Notes and references

Sir Sly

Sir Sly is an American indie pop band, formerly known as "The Royal Sons", formed and based in Los Angeles, California, United States. The band is fronted by vocalist Landon Jacobs with instrumentalists Jason Suwito and Hayden Coplen accompanying him. While they originally operated together under the band name "The Royal Sons", the trio gradually built a steady following and managed to top The Hype Machine chart, eventually revealing their identities. Their original band gathered over $13,000 in a Kickstarter campaign, released an album, and then split up. Now they have come together under the new band name of "Sir Sly"

Their debut single, "Ghost", was released on March 4, 2013, on the National Anthem and Neon Gold labels followed by the single "Gold" on May 21, 2013. "Gold" peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and No. 45 on the Rock Airplay chart. "Gold" is also featured in the video game, MLB 14: The Show.

They gained international fame after the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag accolade trailer was released in which their song "Gold" was used.

Gold (2015 film)

Gold. is a German experimental short documentary film directed by Alexander Tuschinski. It intercuts abandoned 19th century gold-mining towns in the desert with sequoia trees in a forest. The film had its world premiere at Mykonos Biennale on July 3, 2015, where it was screened in competition and received the Biennale's Golden Pelican Award by Lydia Venieri. It had its German premiere at Berlin Short Film Festival on July 4, 2015.

Production

The film is set to the fourth movement of Beethoven's seventh symphony, which has been called "Apotheosis of Dance" by Richard Wagner. The director's intention was to intercut nature and human structures to show nature overtaking. It was filmed with a tight schedule and the crew travelled long distances in a short amount of time to get many different shots needed. Tuschinski edited the film from six hours of material from "countless camera-angles", as most shots are shown only very briefly due to the often rapid editing. Planning the film, he was inspired by the early works of his friend and mentor Hugo Niebeling that connect cinematoraphy and music in a very direct way.

Gold (crater)

Gold is a crater in the Oxia Palus quadrangle of Mars, located at 20.2° N and 31.3° W. It is 9.0 km in diameter and was named after a town in Pennsylvania, USA.

Gold is famous as being one of several craters showing clear evidence that it was affected by floods of water from Maja Valles on Mars.

References