Get Out!: French cinema, English-speaking theater and top music shows

Fall weather is definitely here — relax, it’s expected to go away. Once the clouds clear, Buenos Aires will offer a packed cultural agenda this weekend, from a French film showcase and a Claude Chabrol retrospective to a haunting staging of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.  Add an open-air screening on memory and resistance, plus standout concerts spanning electronic, rock and folk traditions across the city’s stages. French film festival + Claude Chabrol at Sala Lugones April 9 to 15Cinépolis RecoletaSala LugonesTickets available online and at the box office The fourth French Cinema Festival will offer the latest from renowned French filmmakers, including New Wave heir Arnaud Desplechin, Michel Gondry, Doming Moll, Cédric Klapisch and veteran Belgium brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The program also includes two classics from the late master Jean-Luc Godard: the labyrinth-shaped sci fi piece Alphaville, and the masterful Contempt, featuring Brigitte Bardot.  Meanwhile, Sala Lugones is hosting a special series on Claude Chabrol, the great French director, a leading figure of the French New Wave. The program includes seven key films, all made between 1968 and 1973, in restored prints specially sent from Paris. The offer is rounded out with two titles from other prolific periods in the director’s career: his 1958 debut, Le Beau Serge, and the indispensable La Cérémonie, one of the best French films of the 1990s. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, by The Suburban Players  April 9, 10 and 11, 8:30 p.m.British Arts Center (Suipacha 1333) The longest-running English-speaking amateur theatre group in Argentina will put on Arthur Miller’s classic The Crucible, a powerful and haunting drama about fear, power, and moral courage. In a tightly bound Puritan community in 17th century Salem, fear and suspicion begin to take hold as unseen forces and whispered accusations unsettle the fragile order of society. What follows is a chilling descent into hysteria, where reputation, faith, and authority collide in a climate of mounting tension. Cinema under the stars at Parque de la Memoria April 12, 6 p.m.Parque de la Memoria (Av. Costanera Norte Rafael Obligado 6745)Free admission The Parque de la Memoria memorial is hosting an outdoor screening series around history and memory in the wake of the 50th anniversary of the civic-military coup in Argentina, co-organized with the German, French and Swiss embassies and Memoria Abierta.  This weekend the film is Marc Rothemund’s Sophie Scholl. Nominated for an Oscar and winner of two Silver Bears at the Berlin film festival (best director and best actress for Julia Jentsch), the film is set in 1943 Munich. Siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl are members of the resistance and get arrested by Nazi forces. While Hans breaks down and confesses during interrogation, Sophie will have to endure Gestapo pressure and protect her brother.  MUSIC Hernán Cattaneo Sunsetstrip April 11-12, starting 4 p.m.Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón 3, (Av. Int. Güiraldes) A massive (and long) electronic concert by internationally acclaimed DJ Hernán Cattaneo hits Buenos Aires with the concept of enjoying the afternoon and evening with great music and dance. The Saturday date is sold-out, so Sunday was added. Fito Páez April 10, 9 p.m.Movistar Arena (Humboldt 450)Admission AR$  70,000-120,000 After two sold-out concerts in March, popular Argentine rock star Fito Páez will perform again at Movistar Arena with his new tour Sale el sol, which includes songs from his last album Novela and a nonstop collection of hits from his 40+ year career. Chango Spasiuk April 10, 9 p.m.Coliseo Theater (Marcelo T. de Alvear 1155)Admission AR$  30,000-75,000 Talented accordionist Chango Spasiuk returns to Buenos Aires after a European tour to present his new album Mundo Chango, where exquisite world-music instrumental songs convey images of the red earth of his native Misiones province, mountains, butterflies, his father’s carpentry workshop, polkas and chamamé. A string ensemble, percussion, piano and voices add beauty to his compositions. Nina Portela April 12, 8 p.m.Rondeman Abasto (Lavalle 3177)Free admission  R&B singer Nina Portela debuts new show Despiértate rock, based on classic songs of Argentine rock heroes Charly García, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Fito Páez and Gustavo Cerati, in a 360 degrees stage with special surprise guests.