Using the demonstrative adjectives ce/cet/cette/ces (see Ce/cet/cette and ces = this/that and these/those (demonstrative adjectives)) on their own is good enough in most cases to express this/that, but sometimes, especially with durations, you need to emphasise how far in the past something happened (that day), or how close to now things are happening (these days).
Look at such cases in French:
Note that in this expression you use année and NOT an
Ce soir-là, quelque chose d'extraordinaire se produisit.That night, something extraordinary happened.
To say that + duration, use the agreed demonstrative adjective ce, cet, cette or ces + duration(s) + -là
To say this + duration, use the agreed demonstrative adjective ce, cet, cette or ces + duration(s) + -ci
Note that ce ...-là (that/those ...) forms are much more commonly used than their counterparts ce...-ci (this/these ...).
ATTENTION:
To express in those days in French, you won't colloquially use "ces jours-là", but rather à cette époque-là or en ce temps-là.
However, ces jours-ci is perfectly correct to say these days:
À cette époque-là, les femmes n'avaient pas le droit de vote.In those days, women didn't have the right to vote.
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