Something to look forward to at the end of next week: the 3rd Rendezvous With French Cinema, which brings some of the best of French contemporary cinema to Singapore. The film festival will take place from 5 December to 8 December 2013 with 14 films being screened, opening with the The Nightingale (Le promeneur d’oiseau) at the Mastercard Theatres at MarinaBay Sands on 5 December.
The Nightingale which makes its Southeast Asian premiere as part of Screen Singapore is directed by Philippe Muyl, was shot in China and features an all-Chinese cast and is one of two films being screened which are Franco-Asian collaborative efforts. The other is a short film directed by Singaporean Jow Zhi Wei After the Winter (Au-dela de l’hiver). Jow Zhi Wei is a recent graduate of the prestigious Le Fresnoy post-graduate school in France and his 19 minute film which was selected for The Cinefondation Selection at the Cannes Film Festival will be shown just before the screenings for The Nightingale.
Other films that will be screened during the four day festival is Michael Kohlhaas, a period drama which centres around a horsedealer directed by Arnaud des Pallières, and Möbius, a spy thriller directed by Éric Rochant. The debut of both films in Singapore will see the attendance of the respective directors, Arnaud des Pallières and Éric Rochant. The screenwriter of Michael Kohlhaas, Christelle Berthevas, will also be in Singapore for what will be the film’s premiere in Asia.
Tickets are priced at $12 for screeings at The Cathay Cineplex, Golden Village Marina and Shaw Theatres Lido and at $11 at Alliance Française Theatre. Information on ticketing and the programme can be found at www.rendezvouswithfrenchcinema.sg.
The previous rendezvous:
Selections from the 3rd Rendezvous With French Cinema Film Programme
(for the full programme, do visit: www.rendezvouswithfrenchcinema.sg)
The Nightingale
(Le promeneur d’oiseau)
In Mandarin with English subtitles, Drama, China & France, 2013,100 mins
Rating: PG
Director: Philippe Muyl
Cast: Li Bao Tian, Li Xiao ran, Qin Hao, Yang Xin Yi
6 Dec, 6.30pm: Alliance française Theatre [Preceded by the screening of short film After the Winter (Au-delà de l'hiver)]
7 Dec, 2.00pm: The Cathay Cineplex
Zhigen has lived alone in Beijing for over 20 years after moving to the city to allow his son Chongyi to attend university. He decides to make the long journey from Beijing to Yangshuo to honour the promise he made to his wife to bring back the bird that has been his only companion in the city. He takes along his granddaughter Renxing. While grandfather and granddaughter set out on their journey, they ponder the meaning of the life they have led in the sole pursuit of success and money.
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After the Winter
(Au-delà de l’hiver)
In French with English subtitles, Short Film, France, 2013, 19 mins
Rating: PG
Director: Jow Zhi Wei
6 Dec, 6.30pm: Alliance française Theatre [Followed by the screening of The Nightingale (Le promeneur d’oiseau)]
An old couple living in a small village goes through their everyday rituals. However, each day they seem to be waiting for something. A metaphorical tale of tumult and the loneliness we life in.
Singaporean Director Jow Zhi Wei graduated from the Puttnam School of Film at Lasalle and under the scholarship by Institut Français Singapour, has completed his Masters programme this year at Le Fresnoy, the prestigious post-graduate art school and audio-visual research and production centre in France. To make this short movie, he spent more than a month living with his subjects on Penghu Island in Taiwan. His hard work paid off in the form of a nomination in the Cinéfondation Selection of the Cannes Film Festival.
———-
Michael Kohlhaas
In French with English subtitles, Period Drama, France, 2013, 122 mins
Rating: M18 – Sexual scenes and nudity
Director: Arnaud des Pallières
Cast: Mads Mikkelson, Mélusine Mayance, Delphine Chuillot, David Kross, Bruno Ganz
6 Dec, 9:15pm: Alliance française Theatre
8 Dec, 2:00pm: The Cathay Cineplex
Winner of the Golden Iris Award for Best Film at the Brussels Film Festival 2013 – The Cévennes in the 16th century. Michael Kohlhaas, a horse-dealer, leads a happy and prosperous family life until he suffers an injustice carried out by a lord. This pious and simple man raises an outlaw army and lays waste to the country by war in order to establish his rights once again.
———-
Möbius
In French with English subtitles, Thriller, France, 2013, 109 mins
Rating: M18 – Sexual scenes
Director: Éric Rochant
Cast: Jean Dujardin, Cécile de France, Tim Roth, Emilie Dequenne, Oleksii Gorbunov
7 Dec, 9:00pm: Alliance française Theatre
8 Dec, 7:20pm: Shaw Theatres Lido
Gregory Lioubov, alias Moses, a Russian secret services officer, is sent to Monaco in order to keep watch over a powerful businessman. For this mission, his team hires Alice, a top-notch financial expert who infiltrates the company. Gregory suspects that Alice has betrayed them; he breaks the golden rule and makes contact with his clandestine agent. An impossible passion develops between them which inexorably leads to their downfall.
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