BRITAIN’S THE KILLS AND FRANCE’S LA FEMME HEADLINE THE FESTIVAL WHERE PARIS & LONDON MEET/ LE FESTIVAL OU PARIS ET LONDRES SE RENCONTRENT 4PM - MIDNIGHT ON SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER CENTRAL ST MARTINS COLLEGE, KINGS CROSS PUBLIC TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE VIA BALLOT AT www.lecrxssing.com Le Crxssing, the unique Franco-British festival of creativity returns in 2018, with a vibrant new location in the heart of London’s favourite destination, King’s Cross. After a successful pilot at Abbey Road in 2017, the Festival will play to its strength of proudly introducing phenomenal artists from both cultures to new audiences. Saturday 22 September sees the take over and transformation of ‘The Street’ in the world renowned Central Saint Martins college. Spanning art, music, comedy, fashion, film and food, Le Crxssing has expanded in its second year with an incredible line up of music artists, comedians, gourmet chefs, filmmakers, top student fashion designers and talented young creatives. Headlining the 2018 Festival are Britain’s The Kills and France’s La Femme, with other music acts including Eddy de Pretto, Claire Laffut, Tshegue, General Elektriks, Jordan MacKampa, plus comedians Joel Dommett, Fern Brady, Airnadette, and Paul Taylor. The festival will also cover art, film and fashion, with gastronomic input from Chef Gregory Marchand (known as ‘Frenchie’), art displays from Toqué Frères, commentary from gallery owner and street-art champion Magda Danysz, as well as the Central St Martins Graduate Fashion Show. Laureated photographers Patrick Taberna, Maria Flore, Melanie Wenger and Clark et Pougnaud will be present, as part of HSBC’s Fondation pour la Photographie exhibition. Filmmakers Paul Webster and Marjane Satrapi and actress Stacy Martin will be on a panel, sharing their experience around ‘creativity beyond boundaries’ and how working with different cultures influences their work. Uniting French and British cultures with its own inimitable curatorial style and supported by its ambassadors, TV and movie star Antoine de Caunes and comedian and actor Eddie Izzard, the Le Crxssing one-day festival will be a celebration of cultural collaboration and the unshakable friendship between two countries. “The 21st century will be the most important century that humanity will have ever seen. It’s up to us to make this the century where we finally have a world where seven billion learn to live, work and create together in some shape or form. I am for Le Crxssing, and for going forwards with our hands across the seas” Eddie Izzard, Le Crxssing Ambassador French pop connoisseurs and winners of Best New French band, La Femme, have made a huge mark on modern Paris’ cultural landscape with their trademark grit and glamour. British-American indie rock band, The Kills bring their 10,000 watt voltage performance to Kings Cross, their restless and enigmatic music resonates with unstudied cool. The stellar music line-up includes cutting edge ‘new’ R&B champion Eddy de Pretto and multi- disciplinary artist and beautifully unsettling singer Claire Laffut. Hot Paris-based band Tshegue, whose music and art transverses the African diaspora and General Elektriks, vintage keyboard playing Hervé Salters’ blend of funk, old-school pop and hip-hop beats. The powerful troubadour, Jordan MacKampa returns for a second year, rising East London rapper, Jeshi and IAMDDB dubbed the lovechild of trap and jazz, add their creativity to the distinctively exploratory festival. Pushing boundaries, Le Crxssing 2018 will once again include its hallmark ‘mash up’ showcasing two distinctive French artists, Claire Laffut and Tshegue in an exclusive musical alliance with British acts: rapper Jeshi and soul singer songwriter, Jordan Mackampa. A variety of internationally acclaimed comedians will join the mêlée. Airnadette energetically lip-sync through 50 years of pop culture. Television and stage comedian Paul Taylor’s bilingual comedy reflects his hilarious cultural experiences living in France. Francois-Xavier Demaison, César nominated comic writer/actor and the head of Paris’ acclaimed Theatre de L’Oeuvre, Demaison shows us how it’s done. ITV’s Joel Dommett, star of “I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here” and its spin-off show, a successful comedian in his own right, will take the stage as will exceptional writer and forward-facing comedian, Fern Brady. Chef Gregory Marchand or “Frenchie” to his colleagues will showcase the culinary skills he learnt as an orphan helping the nuns to cook. An award-winning chef with “Restaurant of the Year” going to his Frenchie Covent Garden establishment. Expect a fusion of English and French foods. The Festival covers art, film and fashion; Magda Danysz, gallery owner in Paris and Shanghai carries the torch for art at the festival. An international driving force for street artists’ careers, a supporter of contemporary artists and a Chevalier of Arts and Letters, Magda is committed to all art not just pieces confined to gallery walls. La Fémis, founded by film director Raoul Peck, which trains 50 filmmaking students a year and The National Film and Television School, one of the world’s leading film, television and games schools will curate a short film festival presenting the best talents from either side of The Channel. For more information, please visit www.lecrxssing.com and follow Le Crxssing on Twitter and Instagram. -Contact: [email protected] Notes to editors: Le Crxssing is proudly supported by our returning co-founders Vivendi, Google, HSBC, Eurostar and Blue Solutions, as well as new partners EDF, The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, LionTree, Master & Dynamic, GetLink, L’Institut Français, The French Chamber of Great Britain, Atout France, Urban Partners, UniFrance, The Creative Industries Federation, L’Occitane, Ascential, Argent, Sassy Cidre, Cylo and Pierre Hermé. ANTOINE DE CAUNES Avid music lover and enthusiast, Antoine de Caunes is a celebrated Canal+ presenter, actor, producer and writer. As a true anglophile, Antoine has successfully become one of France’s most popular cultural exports. Antoine De Caunes creatively expresses his love for all things art and isn’t afraid to break the boundaries. Son of journalist and French TV presenter Georges de Caunes and of Jacqueline Joubert, Antoine de Caunes first appeared on television in the 1970s in the rock show ‘Chorus!’. He continued to forge his career in musical rock shows with Houba-Houba in ‘Enfants du Rock’. Antoine continued his career on Canal+ from 1977 onwards with the hit show ‘Nulle part Ailleurs’ and launched his cinema career in 1989, appearing in a number of key roles in cult French films, culminating in his direction of the biopic ‘Coluche: l’histoire d’un mec’ in 2008. Antoine is a great explorer, who continuously pushes his own boundaries to discover new cultures, talents and creative outlets. He travelled throughout the US and launched a travel series on Canal+ while also hosting a number of shows on the BBC. Antoine continues to focus on his love for uncovering new talent and contributing to pop culture with his daily radio show POPOPOP. Antoine de Caunes perfectly embodies the ideals of creativity beyond boundaries that are at the core of Le Crxssing. EDDIE IZZARD Eddie is a world class comedian, fashion icon, political campaigner, runner and tireless supporter of charity. His surreal style is inimitable and unique. He sold out shows in France and Germany where he performed his individual style of comedy in multiple languages with extraordinary ease. Eddie Izzard is a stand-up comedian, actor and writer. Eddie is also well known for his love of politics and political activism and has been a long- standing supporter of the Labour party. Eddie’s Force Majeure comedy tour has played in over 30 countries and in all 50 US states. He now tours his show in four languages (English, French, German and Spanish) and recently spent two months in Paris devising his new stand up show in French. Eddie recently received critical acclaim for his performance alongside Judi Dench in the film, Victoria and Abdul. In 2010, Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story received an Emmy® Award nomination. His recent autobiography, Believe Me, entered the top ten in the Sunday Times Best-seller list. On March 20th 2016, Izzard completed running 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa as a tribute to Nelson Mandela and raised over £2.6 million for Sport Relief. He is currently working towards a world tour of an exciting new live show. LA FEMME Direct from the Parisian overground, French pop connoisseurs La Femme have made a huge mark on modern Paris’ cultural landscape, by engraining in their music the two sides of the city: the glamour and the grit. Since the release of their debut album, Psycho Tropical Berlin, they have gained momentum and a growing young audience. They won French Best New Band of the Year at The French Music Awards and topped the French charts. Their music was also used for three major worldwide TV adverts for Apple, Renault and Sonos which has brought them great attention. They have toured three times in the UK, including a support tour for Maximo Park in 2012. Returning with a more psychedelic sound and numerous female guest vocalists that slice through the starkest of electro beats, La Femme celebrates their wonderful city and tackles the enigmatic question of falling in and out of love. Mystère is indeed a compendium of short stories describing love and loss and each song breaks down language barriers through an inventive and astute knack for melody. THE KILLS For a decade and a half, The Kills have mastered the savage balance between chaos and equilibrium, salvation and obliteration, 10,000-watt voltage and intense darkness. They have reimagined the possibilities of modern duality, unleashing artful detonation and subtle vocal and guitar violence.