Bonjour! Wanna indulge yourselves in critically acclaimed French movies at the 25th French Film Festival? Well of course, oui!
As the late French auteur Jean-Luc Godard once said, “Cinema is the most beautiful fraud in the world.” And indeed it is. Cinema has the power to transport us to places we’ve never been and even let us inhabit fictional characters where we vicariously feel joy, sorrow, and a plethora of emotions. As October winds to a close this week, we’ll get to experience this and more through the most-awaited French event in the capital, the 25th French Film Festival (Féte du Cinéma).
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75 YEARS OF PHILIPPINES-FRANCE FRIENDSHIP
This year, the silver anniversary of the French Film Festival in Manila celebrates the colorful 75 years of diplomatic relations between France and the Philippines. And part of this celebration is an exciting lineup of events as a way of looking back at this enduring, historic friendship and looking forward to the next 75 years.
“The Filipinos and the French share a passion for moving images,” says the festival description on the Embassy of France in Manila’s website. “Soon after the Lumière brothers invented cinema, Pathé projectors found their way to the Philippine islands and soon enough Filipinos were making films already. The French Film Festival has been bringing some of the most critically acclaimed and crowd pleasers to the discerning Filipino audience in search of movies that look into social issues, family values and beautiful scenery that are close to the heart.”
Some of the 17-film offering this year includes: Martin Bourboulon’s historical romance drama Eiffel, which is also the festival’s opening film; Cédric Jimenez’s crime action November which stars the Academy Award winner, Jean Dujardin; the Léa Seydoux-starring satire France by Bruno Dumont; and the award-winning documentary La Panthére Des Neiges (The Velvet Queen) by Marie Amiguet and Vincent Munier.
French veteran actress Isabelle Huppert and Emily In Paris star Lucas Bravo also attended the opening of the festival last weekend at Greenbelt Cinemas in Makati last weekend. The two actors share credits for the dramedy Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, which also stars British actress Lesle Manville as the lead. “It is great for our cinematography,” says the Academy award-nominated Huppert during the press screening of About Joan. “It’s a way of getting connected and cinema is a window to the world and it’s always nice when that window gives news from you it’s wonderful.”
Huppert also stars in other titles in the lineup including The Promises and the Brillante Mendoza film Captive. The Venice Film Festival-winning On The Job: The Missing 8 by Erik Matti also screens in the event. The French Film Festival also presented a teaser of Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s Walang KaParis starring Alessandra de Rossi and Empoy Marquez, which also signals an exciting future for film co-productions between the two countries.
The 25th French Film Festival is organized by the Embassy of France to the Philippines, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Embassy in France, Alliance Française de Manille, Institut Français, and Film Development Council of the Philippines. It will run until October 30 and will grace the screens of Greenbelt Cinemas in Makati with some French cinematic goodness. Head on to the French Embassy’s website for more information about the festival and other events.
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