The french and the furious
23rd French Film Festival revs into high gear
French Ambassador Nicolas Galey made a quick quip to Film Development Council Board head Liza Diño as she sat down in Shang Plaza Cineplex during the 23rd French Film Festival media launch. “Did you have a hard time getting a taxi?” It seemed like a teasing reference to Taxi 5, the fifth installment of a popular French action movie series produced by Luc Besson, set to premiere at the film fest’s red carpet premiere on June 8.
In light of that, Peugeot, a key sponsor of the popular Taxi movies, will roll out a motorcade of its cars during opening night, supplied by Peugeot Philippines and carrying local actors and actresses, directors, and the recent delegation to the Cannes Film Festival led by FDCP.
As French Ambassador Galey put it, film helps us “highlight our identities in the midst of globalization.” And Cannes is proving to be a receptive partner in furthering Filipino filmmakers. At the media launch, Diño highlighted the gains made — the return of Raymond Red, the first Filipino filmmaker to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes with his short Anino over a decade ago, who was back in competition; a pair of Filipino animators will join France’s prestigious Annecy Animated Film Festival; and several Filipino filmmakers were invited to Marché du Film, a seven-day marketplace within Cannes that pairs filmmakers with top investors, producers and financiers from around the world. “We were the only Asian country featured in this network,” says Diño. “All the rest were coming from European countries, so it was a big step for us to show what we can do and offer the world.”
For its 23rd edition in Manila, the French Film Festival screens 21 French films, a lineup including not only popular hits like Taxi 5 (distributed locally by Pioneer Films), but critically acclaimed films such as Personal Shopper (Official Competition, Cannes Film Festival 2016), La Prière (The Prayer) (Silver Bear for Best Actor, Berlin Film Festival 2018), and the jazz biopic Django (Opening Film, Berlin Film Festival 2017).
Art is the backdrop for telling stories about passion and relationships — between artist Paul Cézanne and writer Emile Zola in Cézanne et moi (Cézanne and I), between a Russian ballerina and a French dancer in Polina, and between the fashion icon and his business partner and lover, Pierre Bergé, in Yves Saint Laurent.
There will be dramas Orpheline (Orphans) and Une Vie (A Woman’s Life); comedies Epouse-moi mon pote (Marry Me, Dude) and Rock ‘n’ Roll; the dystopian science fiction film Seuls (Alone) and animated film Louise en hiver (Louise by the Shore); and the documentary Voyage à travers le cinéma français (A Journey Through French Cinema) for film aficionados.
Noir buffs will especially the retrospective on Jean-Pierre Melville, who pioneered French film noir between the 1940s to the 1960s. Among Melville’s featured classics will be Bob Le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler), Le Doulos (Doulos: The Finger Man), and L’Armée des Ombres (Army of Shadow).
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Tickets for each screening are P150 at the box office or through www.sureseats.com. For screening times and info, visit www.ph.ambafrance.org.
