Book Talk: Le Buveur de brume (The Mist Drinker) with Guillaume Gallienne

The Alliance Française de Chicago, with L’Atelier de la langue française, is honored to welcome French actor, screenwriter, and film director Guillaume Gallienne for a talk about his career and his first novel, Le Buveur de brumes (The Mist Drinker, Stock, 2025), moderated by Hugo Pinatel.

Guillaume Gallienne is the 513th member of the Comédie-Française, a historical theater company created in 1680 after the death of Molière. He has received two Molière Awards and has performed in almost fifty roles on stage. His autobiographical show Les Garçons et Guillaume à table (Me, Myself and Mum), was adapted into a film in 2013 and made him one of the most popular actors and film directors in France over the last fifteen years, garnering five César Awards including Best Film, Best First Film and Best Actor.

In front of the camera, he been a part of numerous projects: Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, Danièle Thompson’s Fauteuils d’orchestre and Cézanne et moi, Jalil Lespert’s Yves Saint Laurent, Alexandre Astier’s Kamelott and Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, among others. 

For ten years, he brought literary œuvres to life with his program Ca ne peut pas faire de mal (“a little of what you fancy does you good”)  on the French national radio station, France Inter. 

In 2018, he was appointed as professor of theater at Princeton University. In 2025, he published his first novel, Le Buveur de brume, inspired by his Georgian roots and childhood memories.

Doors at 6pm. Program at 6:30 pm. Reception to follow. Please enter via 54 W Chicago Ave. Non-alcoholic options will be available.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the John Shedd Reed fund.

About Guillaume Gallienne

Photo Credit: Jean-Louis Fernandez

Guillaume Gallienne is an actor, screenwriter and film director. Amongst his vast film credits, he is featured in the upcoming films Bazaar (2026) by Rémi Bezançon and Après (2026) by Kirill Serebrennikov. With the Comédie-Française, he is a part of Ivo Van Hove’s production of Hamlet and is in Molière’s Le Malade imaginaire, directed by Claude Stratz. He is also currently working on an animated adaptation of the French classic Cyrano de Bergerac.

About Hugo Pinatel

Hugo Pinatel

Hugo Pinatel is the artistic director at Atelier de la langue française. He has written several theatrical interpretations, including Sade, le génie du mal, dedicated to the Marquis de Sade and his literary posterity; Poésie et résistance, relating the epic of French resistance poets under the Nazi occupation; and Heureux qui comme Ulysse, exploring the mysteries of Homer’s Odyssey.

Getting Here

The Alliance Française de Chicago is one block from the CTA Red line stop at Chicago Ave. Best bus routes are the 22 on Clark and the 66 on Chicago Ave. A Divvy station is located in front of the 54 W Chicago Ave entrance.

Parking Information

$12 for 12 hours at InterPark at 100 W Chestnut St. Validation is available at reception.

Please be advised that students, members, and attendees at cultural events or programs may be photographed, and these images may be used for marketing purposes.