The French Film Festival is back
A bright spot every year for film enthusiasts, the long-running French Film Festival is back, with 20 films from the cinema-loving country, which have some recurring names (Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Beart, Guillaume Canet, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, etc). This time they’re at new digs, with a new partnership with SM Cinemas; Megamall and Mall of Asia are this year’s venues. It’s running from Nov. 25 to Dec. 3. Be sure to check out some of the best French cinema has to offer. Below, we’ve selected some highlights from the 20 films this year.
“The Last Metro” (1980)
The final film from legendary New Wave filmmaker Francois Truffaut, “The Last Metro” is set during World War II. Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve) must take over directing duties of a play when her Jewish husband is seemingly vanished by occupying German forces. Winner of the major Cesars in 1981 (basically the French Oscars) and nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film (now known as Best International Feature).
“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” (1964)
The classic musical by Jacques Demy with Anne Vernon, Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo is a dazzling, colorful entry in this year’s festival. An inspiration for “La La Land” and “Punch-Drunk Love,” among others, the film is about Genevieve (Deneuve), who works at her mother’s shop that gives the film its name. When Genevieve falls in love it’s like the world shares her joy, but then obstacles threaten to tear the young lovers apart.
“Acid” (2023)
A big-budget blockbuster movie focusing on a daughter trying to reunite her separated parents in the middle of a climate disaster that threatens to wipe out everything they know! Just Philippot directs Guillaume Canet, Laetitia Dosch and Patience Munchenbach.
“Such a Resounding Silence” (2023)
Emmanuelle Béart steps behind the camera for the first time to codirect this documentary with Anastasia Mikova about victims of incest. Dealing with the trauma, the survivors’ stories bring to light a blight on society that gets silenced far too often.
“The Taste of Things” (2023)
France’s entry this year to the Oscars for Best International Feature, starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel as a cook and gourmet who have been working together for 20 years. Over time, their collaboration has blossomed into a romantic relationship, but Eugenie (Binoche) is against marriage. So Dodin (Magimel) concocts a scheme, an immense gesture to sway Eugenie.“Gallant Indies” (2021)Philippe Béziat’s documentary shines a spotlight on a reinvention of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Gallant Indies,” bringing together the skills of the Paris Opera, choreographer Bintou Dembele and director Clement Cogitore. Tracing the show from first rehearsals to its first public performances, we see the collaboration and struggles in modernizing an opera for today’s audiences.
