2009 10 02 - French Film Festival 25th anniversary

The 25th Singapore French Film Festival celebrates its Silver Jubilee in October 2009

For the past 25 years, the Singapore French Film Festival has brought the French language, arts, history, culture and daily lives to audiences in Singapore. From 2 to 11 October 2009, the first-ever foreign film festival in Singapore will celebrate its 25th anniversary. This year’s festival will feature an Anthology of Works by First Time Directors.

The Opening Film
Paris 36 by Christophe Barratier (of Les Choristes fame) opens the festival. Set in 1936 in vaudevillian Paris in a tumultuous period of violence in the form of masked strike-breakers, anti-Semitism of the rich conservatives and the fraudulent idealism of the communists, the film is above all a sentimental story of lives intertwined on the cobblestone streets of the City of Love in Pre-World War II.
Anthology of Works by First-Time Directors
Seven works by first-time directors will be featured during the festival. These first-time directors broach a wide spectrum of issues, from boxing to sexuality, from political fanaticism to familial relationships.

Award-Winners
Award-winning movies include Capitaine Achab (Captain Ahab), Ceux qui restent (Those Who Remain), Dans La Vie (Two Ladies) and Dernier maquis (Adhen). A historical drama, Jean de la Fontaine, will bring to life one of France’s most beloved writer, played by Lorànt Deutsch. Fans of Agatha Christie’s detective fiction works can look forward to L’Heure Zero (Towards Zero).

A brief history of the Singapore French Film Festival
The Singapore French Film Festival was inaugurated in October 1985. It was then known as “La Semaine du Cinéma”. The selection of films presented during 20 to 25 October 1985 did not focus on the latest films being screened exclusively at the Champs-Elysées. Rather, a selection of movies was made from the numerous productions of the three of four preceding years. It represented a general picture, subjective of course, of the French filmmakers of that time. The “Semaine du Cinéma” brought to the island-state French films which had never before been screened in Singapore.
This annual event is organised by the Alliance Française de Singapour, the French Embassy and Cathay Organisation. Unifrance is the world-wide presenting sponsor of the French Film Festival. Air France is the Airline Sponsor of the festival. This year, JCDecaux joins the festival as the Official Outdoor Media Sponsor, and Time-Out Singapore is the festival’s Supporting Magazine. The Singapore French Film Festival is a much-anticipated event in the local as well as expatriate cultural calendars.
The films will be screened at the Alliance Française Theatre and The Cathay Cineplex. Tickets will be on sale in September at all SISTIC outlets.
Below are some of the films which will be screened during the festival. There are more films awaiting confirmation. Please visit this page for updates including rating and screening times.

For more information, please contact:
Ms A.H. Sharm
Communications and Events Coordinator
Alliance Française de Singapour
1 Sarkies Road Singapore 258130
Tel : 6833 9311 e-mail : sharm@alliancefrancaise.org.sg
www.alliancefrancaise.org.sg

Opening Film

Paris 36
(Paris 36)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Christophe Barratier
France, 2008, 120mins, TBC
Cast: Gérard Jugnot, Nora Arnezeder, Clovis Cornillac, Kad Merad Historical & Musical Drama
Les Choristes (The Chorus) director Christophe Barratier extended his musical sensitivity in Paris 36 to the soul of a 1936 Parisian community. Gérard Jugnot, who played the music teacher in The Chorus, teams with Barratier again—this time as the soft-hearted Pigoil, life-serving stage manager of Chansonia music hall in the faubourg (suburb) of Paris. Jugnot’s world comes crashing down when his wife leaves him, taking his only son just as the theater closes its doors. To make matters worst, fascist influences of Hitler and Mussolini are clashing with the country’s financially strapped citizens. However, Pigoil re-opens the theater with the help of his friends. Belting out some wonderfully spirited songs, the characters of Paris 36 gleefully reverberate throughout the film. Douce, played well beyond experience by 19-year-old Nora Arnezeder, is one of the most unforgettable characters. Passing an audition because of her beauty, Douce becomes the star of the theater’s re-opening upon discovery of her amazing voice. Arnezeder mirrors her character as an unknown with stunning talent who also had to audition for this role, bringing what should propel her into a successful future. Paris 36 is features rich history, setting, performances and conflicts. It was nominated for five César Awards, France’s highest accolade in cinema.
Awards
2009 - Reinhardt Wagner won the Best Composer Award (Compositeur de musique original) at the Etoile d’Or
Nora Arnezeder won the Best Female Newcomer Award (La révélation féminine) at the Etoile d’Or
Nora Arnezeder won the Most Promising Young Actress Award (Meilleur espoir féminin) at the Lumiere Award
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18820902&cfilm=60038.html
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L’heure zero
(Towards Zero)
In French with English subtitles
Director : Pascal Thomas
France, 2007, 107mins, TBC
Cast : François Morel, Danielle Darrieux, Melvil Poupaud Drama
Before a murder is committed, events collude and juxtapose in such a fashion as to set up the scene of the crime; indeed, it is only a matter of time until the clock points towards zero and violent death occurs...
The story begins as Mme Tressilian, an old and humourless woman confined to her bed, invites several guests into her seaside home of Pointe aux Mouettes for the summer. However, handsome tennis star Neuville, former ward of Lady Tressilian's deceased husband, incurs her displeasure by re-uniting his new wife, the explosive Caroline, and his ex, Aude, under her roof, thus causing no end of romantic misunderstandings. But events soon take on a much less whimsical turn when Lady Tressilian is killed where she sleeps and the Superintendent of the police, who is meant to be recuperating in the home of his nephew, the Inspector, finds himself pawing his way along a labyrinthine maze of clues and deception...
Towards Zero is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in June 1944 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in July of the same year.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18746173&cfilm=112190.html
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Capitaine Achab
(Captain Ahab)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Philippe Ramos
France, 2008, 100mins, TBC
Cast : Denis Lavant Jacques Bonnaffé, Bernard Blancan Adventure
In five episodes, Achab is seen through the eyes of five people- his father, his aunt, Mulligan, a preacher who helps him, Anna, his lover, and Starbuck, the Pequod's mate. Each episode is interesting - his father's refusal to take him hunting, his father's death, the religiously inspired cruelty of his aunt and her husband, his encounter with a couple of criminals who've come from Huckleberry Finn, his spiritual division between the sea and religion, his affair with the laundress Anna - explains or shows the monomaniac Achab of Melville emerges from this history. It's a stylised film with some extraordinary shots, a good use of noise and music and a wonderful performance by the child who plays the child Ahab.
Awards
2007 - Best Director was awarded to Capitaine Achab by Philippe Ramos at the 60th Locarno International Film Festival
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18794334&cfilm=110672.html
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Ceux qui restent
(Those Who Remain)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Anne Le Ny
France, 2007, 94mins, TBC
Cast: Vincent Lindon, Emmanuelle Devos, Yeelem Jappain Drama
A man and a woman connect in a hospital where their significant others are cancer patients and they are daily visitors. Bertrand, a German teacher whose afternoons are free for these visits, encounters a flustered Lorraine on her first time at the hospital. Lorraine is not sure she's ever going to be able to cope if she winds up with a boyfriend who has permanent damage from colon cancer. Betrand lives with a teenage stepdaughter Valentine (Yeelem Jappain), who detests him and continually makes excuses not to come see her mom. Bertrand is so wise, patient, and long-suffering it comes to bug Lorraine. But that comes later.

At first, they simply meet again and have coffee at the cafeteria. The day comes when Bertrand and Lorraine do more than keep each other company; when they begin to go to the hospital to see each other. And that becomes complicated. Bertrand has a longtime commitment to his wife. Lorraine's relationship is newer, and she balks at her new role with her boyfriend. But that may not show who most needs the other. The film was nominated for three César Awards in 2008.
Awards
2009 - Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Hagerman won the Best Documentary Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18738010&cfilm=119410.html
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Chronopolis
(Chronopolis)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Piotr Kamler
France, 1983, 70mins, TBC Animation
The story of Chronopolis unfolds entirely through pictures and music. There is an obsessed mountain climber. And elsewhere, a city with enigmatic inhabitants who control matter. The apparently omniscient Chronopolitans are able to see this mountain climber in his world and they decide to contact him to reveal their hidden existence. To do so, they manipulate basic matter though a sort of alchemy, culminating in an intelligent sphere which departs to meet the man. The interactions between the sphere and the man are mostly jovial, but trying to meet the inhabitants of Chronopolis themselves is not so simple…In 1983, Chronopolis was nominated for Best Film in the category of International Fantasy Film.
Awards
1982 – Piotr Kamler won the Best Children’s Film Award at Fantafestival.
1983 – Piotr Kamler won the Critic’s Award at Fantasporto.
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Dans la vie
(Two Ladies)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Philippe Faucon
France, 2007, 83mins, TBC
Cast : Sabrina Ben Abdallah, Ariane Jacquot, Zohra Mouffok Comedy
Selima (Sabrina Ben Abdallah) is an independent young nurse of Moroccan Arab origin in the south of France who gets a job doing care for a Moroccan-born Jewish woman, Esther (Ariane Jacquot), who's newly wheelchair-bound. Esther's complaints and abuse lead her housekeeper to quit, and Selima brings in her devoutly Muslim mom Halima (Zohra Mouffok) to clean and do kosher cooking. Problems ensue, but the "two ladies," both of considerable dignity, elegance and girth, find their commonality of generation, religiosity, and national origin overrides politics and prejudice. Halima and Esther hit it off and have many a giggle together.
Complications arise when Esther's doctor son, who usually looks after her, must leave town for a month for training and she agrees to spend the time in Halima's house. At first she kvetches, but before long she and Halima are having more fun together than ever. But mean gossipers in the neighborhood say Halima's earnings from the Jewish lady are tainted money and her plan to use them to make the Haj is "haraam," unlawful. She asks the imam after a mosque service (and this is a rare close-up of Muslim worship) and he gives the correct reply: the Koran says Muslims and Jews are both "ahl ul-kitaab”, People of the Book, they have had lawful dealings with each other since the Prophet's time, and if her employer has never objected to her religion or spoken ill of it, "you have been misled." There is nothing wrong in working for her, her money is "halaal," licit, for the pilgrimage. "Go in peace." When Esther's son comes back early, she refuses to go home and insists on staying to see off Halima on her departure for Mecca. The celebration of the Haj is shown.
Award
2008 – All three leading ladies received the Best Actress at the Mons International Festival of Love Films
Philippe Faucon received a Special Mention at the same ceremony.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18798655&cfilm=127409.html
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Dernier maquis
(Adhen)
In French with English subtitles
Director : Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche
France, Algeria, 2008, 93mins, TBC
Cast: Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche, Abel Jafri, Christian Milia-Darmezin Dramatic Comedy
In a rundown industrial park, Mao, a Muslim boss, owns a company that specializes in repairing trucks and pallets. He decides to open a mosque and designates the imam without consulting the workforce.
Awards
2008 – Dubai International Film Festival
Sylvain Rifflet won the Best Composer in the Muhr Award.
Nicolas Banchillon won the Best Editor in the Muhr Award
Sylvain Rifflet won the Muhr Arabic Feature – Best Composer Award
Nicolas Banchillon won the Muhr Arabic Feature – Best Editor Award
Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche won the 2nd place Muhr Award for Feature and Best Film awards.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18836950&cfilm=134886.html
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Jean de la Fontaine – le defi
(Jean de la Fontaine)
In French with English subtitles
Director : Daniel Vigne
France, 2007, 100mins, TBC
Cast : Lorànt Deutsch, Philippe Torreton, Sara Forestier Historical Drama
Paris bursts into a cacophony on 5 September 1661: The young Louis XIV becomes the sole ruler.
The film follows he confrontation between Jean de La Fontaine, writer of the world renowned Fables, and Colbert, financial administrator for Louis XIV’s Kingdom of France. In 1661, Colbert gets his rival Fouquet arrested, a powerful advisor of the young king. While all the other artists support the decision and rush to the Court, poet de La Fontaine confirms his support for Fouquet. Colbert vows to make the rebel admit the truth, but La Fontaine, even when penniless, stands by his convictions. Without money, he resists, observes and writes the Fables, which protest against a despotic government in the height of its decline.
The battle between de La Fontaine and Colbert is one which lasted till death.

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18725923&cfilm=111933.html
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Un secret
(A Secret)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Claude Miller
France, 2007, 100mins, TBC
Cast: Cécile de France, Patrick Bruel, Ludivine Sagnier Drama
On his fifteenth birthday a family friend tells Francois (Quentin Dubuis) a shattering truth - tying his family's past to the Holocaust - that may enable him to develop his own sense of self. Until then, the secret had lain silent, known only to a few, including his mother Tania (Cecile De France), his father Maxime (Patrick Bruel) and lifelong family friend Louise (Julie Depardieu). The backdrop of the war and the Nazi pursuit of Jews provide the story's setting, but it's as much about human nature as about the Nazi menace. The moral questions and 'what would I do' factor make the film involving and even a little disturbing. The movie was nominated for 11 César Awards in 2008.
Awards
2007 – Claude Miller (tied with Ben X) won the Grand Prix des Amériques at the Montréal World Film Festival
2008 – Julie Depardieu won the Best Supporting Actress Award (Meilleure actrice dans un second rôle)
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18742605&cfilm=110700.html
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Dan les cordes
(On the Ropes)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Magaly Richard-Serrano
France, 2007, 93mins, TBC
Cast: Richard Anconina, Maria de Medeiros, Louise Szpindel Drama
New Director Anthology
A French boxing coach has taught his daughter and his niece the sport since they were children. But when the two women face each other in the finals of the French Championships, the family’s equilibrium is shattered. A dangerous rivalry begins to fester between the two boxers, raised as sisters, both inside the ring and out.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18721494&cfilm=110267.html
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Naissance des pieuvres
(Water Lilies)
In French with English subtitles
Director : Céline Sciamma
France, 2007, 85mins, TBC
Cast : Pauline Acquart, Adèle Haenel, Louise Blachère Drama
New Director Anthology
Three girls, each about 15, deal with puberty, the onset of sexual attraction, and, for two, the pressure of virginity. Marie, who's slight and diffident, quiet and nearly expressionless, is friends with Anne, who's a bit chunky and impulsive and has decided that François will be her first love. Watching synchronized swimming, Marie is suddenly attracted to the team captain, Floriane, beautiful, aloof, tall, and rumored to be a slut. François pursues her. Marie begins to hang around her; they trade favors, and soon it's an odd sort of friendship. Each of the three experiences her own first, and Marie must sort out attraction and friendship. The film was nominated for three César Awards, including best First Work in 2008.
Awards
2007 – Award of the Youth at the Caubourg Romantic Film Festival
2007 – Prix Louis Deluc – Céline Sciamma won the Best First Film Award (tied with Tout est Pardonnée, 2007)
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18734152&cfilm=114644.html
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La tête de maman
(In Mom’s Head)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Carine Tardieu
France, 2006, 95mins, TBC
Cast: Karin Viard, Chloé Coulloud, Kad Merad Dramatic Comedy
New Director Anthology
Lulu is 15 years old, living in an idealized French countryside with her parents. Her mother has been depressed and sickly as far back as she can remember, a state which is about to be challenged by a Lulu who slips slowly into young adulthood. The real trigger occurs when Lulu stumbles on an old picture of her mother, where she's radiant, and Lulu realizes something must have happened along the way. Her second thought, being the entrepreneurial type that she is, is it may also be the route to get her back. A two generational first-love tale unfolds with Lulu at the helm.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18722785&cfilm=110283.html
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Tout est pardonné
(All is Forgiven)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
France, 2006, 105mins, TBC
Cast: Paul Blain, Marie-Christine Friedrich, Victoire Rousseau Drama
New Director Anthology
First-time director Hansen-Løve has crafted one of the most powerful, redemptive films of the year. As a family of three cracks apart and separates under the duress of the father’s heroin addiction, the mother and daughter have no choice but to go their own way. Eleven years later, the daughter is now a young woman and upon learning that her father is living nearby, rekindles their relationship.
Awards
2008 – Mia Hansen-Løve was nominated for Best First Work at the César Awards (France)
2007 – Marie-Christine Friedrich won the Best Actress Award at the Gijón International Film Festival
2007 – Prix Louis Deluc – Mia Hansen Løve won the Best First Film Award (tied with Naissance des Pieuvres, 2007.)
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18741704&cfilm=110869.html
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13m2
(13m2)
Director : Barthélémy Grossmann
France, 2007, 84mins, TBC
Cast: Barthélémy Grossmann, Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Youssef Hajdi Police Drama
New Director Anthology
Jose is looking for a way out of his small time banlieue deals. When he overhears a conversation between his girlfriend and his step-brother, he might just have found a very lucrative way. Together with his two best friends, he decides to attack an armored vehicle, full of cash. Unfortunately, everything goes wrong and they're forced into hiding - in a 13 square meters bunker. There, they will have to test their friendship and their motivations, as every move outside triggers even more paranoia.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18732461&cfilm=125701.html
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Barakat !
(Barakat !)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Djamila Sahroui and Cécile Vargaftig
France, 2006, 94mins, TBC
Cast: Rachida Brakni, Fettouma Bouamari, Zahir Bouzerar Drama
New Director Anthology
In an Algeria which is still the victim of fundamentalist fanaticism, two women set off in search of the younger woman's husband, kidnapped because of his courageous articles. Their journey, full of danger and discovery, will also allow the two friends to get to know each other better and accept their respective generational differences.
Awards
2007 – Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival
Composer Alla won the Best Music Award
Best Screenplay Award went to Djamila Sahraoui and Cécile Vargaftig
Djamila Sahroui won the Oumarou Ganda Award for the Best First Work
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18638997&cfilm=110535.html
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7 ans
(7 Years)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Jean-Pascal Hattu
France, 2006, 86mins, TBC
Cast: Valérie Donzelli, Cyril Troley, Bruno Todeschini, Pablo de la Torre, Nadia Kaci, Fabrice Mansouri, Martine Verdeau, David Besnard, Mouloud Attab, Karim Elganfoud Drama
New Director Anthology
A young woman starts an affair with an employee while her husband is incarcerated. Maïté (Valerie Donzelli) faithfully visits her sexy, intense husband Vincent (Bruno Todeschini), when she's spotted by a pale, pointy-faced man (Cyril Troley) who says he's there to visit his brother Jean. Having been advised by her nurse friend Djamila (Nadia Kaci) to take a lover, she consents to mechanical sex with Jean in a car. The relationship continues and intensifies. It's not till some time later that Maïté learns Jean is a guard at the prison, not a visitor, and that in fact he is friendly with Vincent and is making life easier for him. Maité's life revolves around this strange triangle; she gives up an opportunity to work in a beauty parlor to take care of Djamila's feisty little boy Julien (Pablo De La Torre) during the days. Another surprise comes later. '7 Years' is full of sensuality, gestures, words, smells expressing longing and excitement. Things get more and more intense - and twisted, though in a quite logical way.
Awards:
2007 – Jean-Pascal Hattu won the New Director’s Showcase Special Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Valérie Donzelli won the best Actress Award at the Valencia Festival of Mediterranean Cinema.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18720672&cfilm=110266.html
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Closing Film
Ne te retourne pas
(Don’t Look Back)
In French with English subtitles
Director: Marina De Van
France, 2009, 111mins, TBC
Cast: Sophie Marceau, Monica Belluci, Brigitte Catillon, Andrea Di Stefano, Thierry Neuvic Thriller
Jeanne a writer, married, with two children - starts to see unsettling changes in her home. Her body is beginning to change. No one around her seems to notice. Her family dismisses these fears as the result of the stress of having to finish her next book, but Jeanne realizes that something far deeper, far more disturbing is taking place. A photograph at her mother's house sends her in search of a woman in Italy. Here, transformed into another woman, Rosa Maria, she will discover the strange secret of her true identity.
Sélection officielle Hors compétition Cannes 2009
The film was screened out of competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18885946&cfilm=110128.html