FRANCOPHONIE FILM FESTIVAL 2022
Starting from 11 March, a diverse line-up of films revolving around this year's theme of sustainability has been prepared, as we wish to shed light on the issues of global warming and the questions surrounding them.
Part of:
THE CRUSADE
La croisadeAbel (Louis Garrel), Marianne (Laetitia Casta) and their 13-year-old son Joseph (Joseph Engel) live together in Paris. Their everyday existence is thrown into turmoil when Abel and Marianne discover that Joseph has secretly sold valuables from the family home to finance a mysterious ecological project he and his friends have in Africa. They’re about to save the planet...
The return of the lion and the rhino
This documentary by film-maker, Laurie Hedges, highlights the developments made in Akagera National Park, managed by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in partnership with African Parks. The film focuses on the return of two iconic species; lion and rhino in recent years. The overarching theme is that conservation is not just about protecting wildlife, it’s about people. Local people should be at the core of conservation, benefitting from it, and actively participating in it, and how the return of these two iconic species is seeing this happen.
Sunday 13 March 2022 - 3pm
Saturday
19 March 2022 - 2pm
In partnership with: High Commission of the Republic of Rwanda in Singapore
Corn island
La terre éphémère
The story of an old man and his granddaughter, who live on a fertile estuary of the Enguri River. Every spring the river brings fertile soil from the Caucasus down to the plains of Abkhazia and northwestern Georgia, creating tiny islands: small clusters of no man’s land. The old man builds a hut for him and his teenage granddaughter, he ploughs the earth and together they sow corn. As his granddaughter blossoms into womanhood and the corn ripens, the old man is confronted by the inescapable cycle of life.
Sunday 13 March 2022 - 5pm
In partnership with: Embassy of Georgia Jakarta
Dolphin man
L'homme dauphinDolphin Man draws us into the world of Jacques Mayol, capturing his compelling journey and immersing viewers into the sensory and transformative experience of free-diving. From the Mediterranean to Japan and from India to the Bahamas, we meet Mayol’s closest friends and family, to reveal the portrait of a man who reached the limits of the human body and mind, not just to break records but hoping to discover the deeper affinity between human beings and the sea. Narrated by Jean-Marc Barr, the film weaves together rare film archive from the 1950s onwards, with stunning contemporary underwater photography.
what happened to the bees
Qu'est-il arrivé aux abeilles?
This film showcases the fight of Mayan communities against global companies like Monsanto/Bayer for them to keep their beekeeping ancestral heritage.
After millions of bees suddenly died in the state of Campeche, Mexico, the Mayan beekeeping communities and their representatives decided to organize to find the cause and confront the authorities and the transnational company Monsanto, who have put their subsistence in danger by the sowing transgenic soy in their territory.
This movie is preceeded by a short animated film titled The Cosmic Child, by Alejandro Voorduin. The short film tells the story of the brothers Hun and Vucub Hunahpú, who shake the universe playing ball. The theme of Cosmic Twins is based on one of the passages of the Popol Vuh that delves into the emergence of the world and the creation of man.
Thursday 17 March 2022 - 8pm
Sunday 20 March 2022 - 4pm
In partnership with: Embassy of Mexico
little forest
No job, bad romance, and terrible grades... Nothing goes smoothly in young Hye-won's life in a big city. She puts her unsolved matters behind and impulsively returns to her hometown. There she reunites with her childhood friends Jae-ha and Eun-sook who carry their unusual rural life in their own way. From that winter on, Hye-won's days are filled with simple but peaceful moments; having meals with her organic ingredients. All through the 4 seasons, Hye-won slowly finds the real pleasure of living a simple life, and realizes the genuine reason to return homeland. New spring is approaching, and she takes the first step in her brand new life.
Friday 18 March 2022 - 8pm
Wednesday 23 March 2022 - 8pm
In partnership with: The Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Singapore
Lynx
Lynx
In the heart of the Jura, a call echoes through the forest. The silhouette of a boreal lynx creeps through the beech and fir trees. A male is looking for his female. Suddenly a response comes from the valley floor. Thus begins the story of a family of lynxes that we will follow throughout the seasons. If it is rare to come across this discreet feline, it is exceptional to discover its daily life in the wild.
Saturday 19 March 2022 - 5pm
Saturday 26 March 2022 - 2pm
In partnership with: Embassy of Switzerland in Singapore
untamed romania
La Roumanie indomptée
Beyond the commotion of the cities, there is a fabulous natural life. Unbeknownst to anyone, millions of plants and animals put on a show filled with splendour, grace, ferocity, candour, and humour. The documentary Untamed Romania is a 90-minute journey into this amazing world, with the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube Delta and Transylvania as its major areas of interest. The images are breathtaking, the scientific information about the flora and the fauna is well-dosed, and the music has been specially composed for the film. Shot in some of the most biodiverse places in Europe, the documentary helps us see differently a continent that we thought we knew everything about.
And the birds rained down
Il pleuvait des oiseaux
Il pleuvait des oiseaux (And the Birds Rained Down) is an adaptation of the award-winning Canadian novel by Jocelyn Saucier. It shines a spotlight on the orderly and quiet lives of a group of hermits in the wilderness of Quebec, who have chosen to “live only for themselves”, amidst the aftermath of a wildfire that all but destroyed the town that they once knew. Between the arrival of two new members of their group, an octogenarian who was unjustly institutionalised all of her life, and a young, investigative photographer determined to tell the story of the area’s deadliest forest fire through in-person interviews, the rich tapestry of their lives unfold, revealing the beauty of both living with nature and second chances.
Sunday 20 March 2022 - 7pm
Friday 25 March 2022 - 8pm
the rise of the plastic sandal
L'Odysée de la sandale en plastique
Let's restore the plastic sandal to its rightful place in the world’s Hall of Fame of footwear! Because if no one has forgotten the ordeal our sandals put us through every summer, who amongst us knows her true story? Who looked into the extraordinary fate of this plastic gem that was invented by accident? Who remembers that she has gone through exile, hardship and even wars? Did you know that sandals once embodied the promise of a better world? It is time to take a closer look into the history of the footwear of choice in the tropics – sandals!
In partnership with: Kingdom of Belgium
The last smile
Sonatra is a smart and beautiful female student. She loves music and won the Best Piano Player of the Year with Yuth, her supportive boyfriend, by her side. The two of them wrote a song about Love for everyone and also hope that one day he will sing this song for everyone but everything ends when they both had a car accident on their way back.
In partnership with: Royal Embassy of Cambodia to the Republic of Singapore
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