Nine slices of French culture at the 2014 French Film Festival

Ah, la vie française!

The 2014 edition of the film festival features nine French films released between 2013 and earlier in 2014, to be publicly screened from June 10-15 at the Greenbelt 3 Cinemas for a P100 admission charge.

In an interview, French Ambassador Gilles Garachon said the films in this year’s festival—the third under his watch—are “not all very commercial” and that “a lot of them will not be exported” out of France.

“We do not want to show you huge, massive international productions,” Garachon said. They decided to show “these kinds of films to give Filipinos a real flavor of the real creativity of French cinema.”

“We want to show you movies that will show parts of the French culture,” said Garachon who assumed his Manila post in February 2012.

The 59-year-old ambassador said the nine films deal with life, love, drama, the burdens of ageing, and fictional intrigues at the French diplomatic service.

Garachon said the traditional June 12 Independence Day showing of Filipino films in the middle of the French cinema festival will feature Lino Brocka’s digitally-restored “Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag,” Erik Matti’s “OTJ,” and Lav Diaz’ “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan.”

The 19th French Film Festival pays tribute to Filipino film-makers Brocka, Matti, and Diaz by showing their masterpieces that have been screened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

“We are extremely happy to show Philippine movies during the annual French Film Festival. Watching movies allow us to understand our own culture. Watching movies is a wonderful way to discover other cultures,” he said.

“Movies are windows to access our souls. Movies allow us to discover the pleasant and not-so-pleasant things about ourselves. But such is life,” Garachon added.

This year’s line-up include “Mon âme par toi guérie” (One of a Kind), “Une autre vie” (Lovers), “Amour et turbulences” (Love is in the Air), “Les beaux jours” (Bright Days Ahead), “L’Écume des jours” (Mood Indigo), “Quai d’Orsay,” and “Situation amoureuse: C’est compliqué” (“Relationship Status: It’s Complicated”).

'Venus in Fur,' festival highlight

One of the highlights of the 19th French Film Festival in Manila, which opens on June 9 with the invitational screening of the romantic-comedy film “20 ans d’ecart” (It Boy), is Roman Polanski’s “La Vénus à la fourrure” (Venus in Fur), which will be screened thrice throughout.

A Holocaust survivor, Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer, and actor who helmed films in Poland, Britain, France, and the USA.

Born in Paris in 1933, Polanski is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. He won the 2003 Oscar award for best director for his film “The Pianist” (2002) when he was already 69 years and seven months, marking him as the oldest person to win the particular award.

Polanski became controversial after he was convicted in 1978 for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. After a plea bargain, he was in imprisoned in California. But he fled the US and went to Europe to evade further jail terms in connection with the rape conviction.

“The Pianist” actor Adrien Brody garnered deep admiration and recognition for his acting in the film, for which he received the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was only 29 years old at the time, making him the only actor under 30 to be accorded the acclaim. He is also the only American actor to win the French César Award.

Polanski’s “La Vénus à la fourrure” is scheduled to be screened on June 10, 11 p.m.; June 13, 3:30 p.m.; and June 14, 8:30 p.m.

“La Vénus à la fourrure” is about a Paris theater writer-director’s desperate effort to audition an actress for the lead role in his new play. Writer-director Thomas’s chance encounter with actress Vanda swirls from erratic, energetic, to erotic.

Money matters

Meanwhile, Martin Macalintal, the audiovisual attaché of the French Embassy in Manila, said the French Film Festival organizers have resorted to charging a P100 entrance fee per showing beginning this year because of the expensive cost of royalties paid to French film companies.

Macalintal said the organizers pay €1,000 per screening of each film.

“The entrance fees will help cover the cost of the screening fees. The French Embassy in Manila does not have that much money to run the festival alone. That is why we have sponsors,” he added.

Macalintal said the Ayala cinema management has realized that the French Film Festival in Manila has a “loyal” audience, “so they gave us a bigger venue and longer screening time.”

Macalintal added film director Pepe Diokno is currently in the post-production phase of his film, “Above the Clouds” in Paris.

Diokno’s “Above the Clouds” is co-produced by the French media outfit Unlimited, through the World Cinema Support fund managed by the CNC and Institut Français, under the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Landmark agreement

In the same interview, Garachon also announced the signing of the landmark agreement between the France’s Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) during the May 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

On May 19, at the Cannes Film Festival, FDCP Chairman Briccio Santos and CNC Deputy Director Michel Plazanet signed the film cooperation agreement outlining specific areas of collaboration between the two agencies.

“The Philippines and France signed in Cannes a landmark agreement to work together and to work much close in the field of cinema, which is our common heritage,” he said.

France has long tradition of restoring films while the FDCP is also doing serious film restoration, Garachon said. “It is a perfect match.”

Ted Granados, FDCP executive director, told a small group of reporters that the accord is “truly a big step toward making our mark in the global film arena.”

The agreement with the CNC further enriches the Philippine film cultural identity by analyzing film practices in the cultural lens of another, Granados said.

“We hope to also make a contribution in the development of French culture by sharing our films and making policies that protect and enhance our mutual interests, Granados said.

Under the agreement, France and the Philippines will engage in information sharing, reciprocal participation of national cinematographic works in film festivals, capacity building, archiving, and anti-piracy. The facilitation of production and co-production projects is also an item in the accord. — VC, GMA News


For screening schedules and film synopses, please visit the Embassy of France in the Philippines’ official Facebook page. Tickets for the films will be on sale for P100 at the Greenbelt 3 cinemas.