Get ready to paint the city blue, red, and white as the French Film Festival makes it iconic and celebrates 26 years of bringing some of the best contemporary movies from France to the Filipino audience.
The French Embassy in the Philippines and Micronesia, in partnership with SM Supermalls and SM Cinema, stages the 26th French Film Festival from November 25 to December 3. A suite of about 21 French feature films will be shown simultaneously at SM Mall of Asia and SM Megamall, with a selection of new releases, some of the biggest box office hits of the year, and a few classics featuring icons of French cinema.
In a country that pioneered cinema in Asia, film is perhaps the most suitable medium to promote cultural understanding in the Philippines. Through the moving images, the values and traditions of society are conveyed and appreciated by the public, allowing them to identify or at least react to situations that may be shared by different people across the globe.
The French Film Festival is also a platform to engage the public on certain advocacies, beginning with the Environment. This year’s French film fest opens with ACIDE (Acid Rain) which tells the story of the plight of a family caught in a climatic catastrophe. To commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children, the documentary film UN SILENCE SI BRUYANT (Such A Resounding Silence) by Emmanuelle Béart and Anastasia Mikova prompts the victims of incest to speak out and is currently a controversial topic in French society.
BERNADETTE (The President’s Wife), the latest movie starring French icon Catherine Deneuve provides a glimpse into French politics as she portrays the life of former First Lady Bernadette Chirac in the corridors of the Elysée Palace.
The festival selection also includes two films about the hip-hop scene in France: the fusion of opera singing and urban dance in INDES GALLANTES, and the birth of Suprême NTM.
Other films show different angles of modern-day French society: family life in the comedy ALIBI.COM 2, romantic relationships and friendships in LES CHOSES QU’ON DIT, LES CHOSES QU’ON FAIT (The Things We Say, The Things We Do), while forging new forms of familial love – father-son in a dystopic, sci-fi film LE REGNE ANIMA (Animal Kingdom).
Literary adaptations like LES TROIS MOUSQUETAIRES – D’ARTAGNAN (The Three Musketeers – D’Artagnan), from the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas and ASTERIX ET OBELIX: L’EMPIRE DU MILIEU (Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom) from the popular comic books have become international blockbusters.
The French Film Festival renews its partnership with the QCinema International Film Festival in bringing some of the most critically-acclaimed titles of World Cinema to the local moviegoers such as DAAAALI and LA PASSION DE DODIN BOUFFANT (The Taste of Things), the French entry in the Oscars.
The French Film Festival will also be the occasion to officially launch in the Philippines the campaign “Make It Iconic – Choose France.” This promotes the French “love of action and craftsmanship, the willingness to defend an original vision, the art of not doing anything like others do,” perfectly illustrated through this year’s movie selection.
This year’s selection presents the diversity of French cinema that may appeal to different types of audiences. French Cultural Counsellor Marc Piton states that through the French Film Festival, Filipinos will have the opportunity to see the new French movies that are released worldwide. “French films are commercially successful everywhere and that is why we partner with SM Cinema to be able to reach a wider audience in the country.”
French Ambassador to the Philippines and Micronesia Her Excellency Marie Fontanel believes that the young vibrant population of the Philippines should be exposed to the diversity of cultures, and through cinema, the Filipino youth can have the chance to see a different perspective of life beyond the regular programming of theaters.
In the words of French President Emmanuel Macron, “The French spirit continues to astonish, fascinate and change the world.” French cinema entertains the audience with unexpected twists and turns and delivers messages that can help build a better world. The French Film Festival in Manila is making it iconic.
Regular tickets are at P150 and P100 for students, seniors, and PWDs at the SM MOA and SM Megamall Cinema ticket booths.