READY, SET, GO!
Alliance Française de Singapour is proud to present the 2023 edition of the Francophonie Film Festival! This year, the Francophonie Festival is focused on the theme of sports. As the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games are upon us, what better time than now to get in the mood? So come to our theatre and discover a diverse lineup of films revolving around this year’s sports theme. From the heart-warming friendship stories depicted in “Princes of the desert” or “The outlaw league” to the inspiring tales of transcendence “The Jump” or “The Road to Sparta”, Alliance Française de Singapour cannot wait to show you the exciting lineup it has gathered with the support of no less than 12 partnering embassies and governments.
Please check the film ratings before purchasing tickets. For films with no rating at the date of print, please check online before purchasing the tickets.
TBA: Please wait for rating to be out before buying tickets for 21 years and below
G – General: Suitable for all ages
PG – Parental Guidance: Suitable for all but parents should guide their young
PG13 – Parental Guidance 13: Suitable for persons aged 13 and above but parental guidance is advised for children below 13
NC16 – No children under 16: Suitable for persons aged 16 and above
M18 – Mature 18: Suitable for persons aged 18 and above
R21 – Restricted 21: Restricted to persons aged 21 and above
GET TICKETS HERE
Presented By:
THE JUMP
2021
18 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Jorge Porras Gamboa
Cast: Luis Alberto Rivera Morales, Edgar Alejandro Rivera Morales, Jorge Eduardo Rivera Morales
Runtime: 80min
Rating: PG
Category: Documentary
In Spanish with English subtitles
Luis Rivera, the best Mexican jumper in history, seeks to inspire a generation by qualifying for the Olympic Games in 2016, while finishing his doctoral studies. Injuries and poor results stand in his way. In need of an almost miraculous recovery, Luis must return to the top of his career in a short time to first inspire his brothers, who closely follow his footsteps in athletics.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session on zoom with the director and the cast members.
In Partnership With
THE OUTLAW LEAGUE
2014
19 MARCH – 4.30PM
Director: Jean Beaudry
Cast: André Kasper, Guy Thauvette, Charles Gillespie
Runtime: 90min
Rating: PG
Category: Family
In French with English subtitles
After his father died at sea, young Nicolas intended to spend his summer playing baseball with his friends on his town’s baseball field. But when the first day of summer came, Nicolas and his friends found out the baseball field had been locked out and was now filled with waste, as the town’s mayor had decided to use the baseball field as a dump. Nicolas and his friends must clean everything up in order to be able to play baseball again. Nicolas asks his grandfather, a drunkard who has been living as a recluse since his son’s passing, for help. To convince the mayor to save the baseball field, they will have to fill the stands and organize an actual baseball game.
In Partnership With:
MARATHON
2005
20 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Chung Yoon-chul
Cast: Cho Seung-woo, Kim Mi-sook, Lee Ki-young
Runtime: 117min
Rating: PG
Category: Drama
In Korean with English subtitles
A true story, that of Yoon Cho-Won, a young autistic boy passionate about chocolate, zebras, and running. 20 years after he was born, this man had the intellectual level of a 5-year-old boy. His mother fights for his social insertion and thinks she found the solution when she discovers her son’s passion for running. Her ambition to see her son someday run a Marathon leads her to hire a former Marathon world champion to train her son. This decision will lead to a break in the fusional relationship Cho-Won had with his mom.
In Partnership With:
THE ROAD TO SPARTA
2016
21 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Roddy Gibson and Barney Spender
Cast: Dean Karnazes, Angela Terzi, Rob Pinnington, Mark Woolley
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 60 mins
Rating: PG
In English
Four runners, Four stories, One Greek drama. The Road to Sparta follows the fortunes of four runners, including “Ultra Marathon Man” Dean Karnazes, as they attempt to follow in the footsteps of Pheidippides and complete the gruelling 246 kilometre Spartathlon in just 36 hours. Using specially-commissioned poetry from AE Stallings and music from Old House Playground, The Road to Sparta blends the ancient tale with the modern race and discovers a road paved with blood and blisters, pain and glory.
In Partnership With:
TORI AND LOKITA
2022
22 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Cast: Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Claire Bodson
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 88 mins
Rating: PG13
In French with English subtitles
In modern-day Belgium, a young woman called Lokita and a boy called Tori, both from Benin, have endured a terrible journey to the promised land of the EU and are now in a children’s home for immigrants. To get their residence papers, they have to claim to be brother and sister; no great strain, because these young people are now as passionately close as any siblings. But bureaucracy and official suspicion wreck their dreams. Desperate for cash and still owing money to people traffickers, Tori gets a job selling drugs under cover of delivering pizzas and Lokita agrees to be taken blindfold by criminals to a secret cannabis farm, a truly terrifying place in the middle of nowhere. She is there locked in for three months tending the plants under the unbearably hot lights, with her phone taken away, on the promise of payment when the time is up.
The screening will be preceded by a video message by the Dardenne brothers.
In Partnership With
8 SHORT MOVIES BY PROMISING CALEDONIAN DIRECTORS
23 MARCH – FROM 7.30PM
REFERENDUMBS
Director: Terence Chevrin
Cast: Stéphane Piochaud, Henry Astro Citre, Jean-Yan Babois
Genre: Short movie, Comedy, Action
Runtime: 29 mins
Release date: 2021
Rating: PG
In French with English subtitles
Following an unsuccessful referendum period, New Caledonia decides to send two Caledonians to the International Space Station as standard bearer for living together. Despite the calibrated preparation and a well-oiled ceremony, the pressure of the challenge is such that old resentments reappear at the worst possible time…
THE VISITS
Director: Erwann Bournet
Cast: Alexandre Quinot, Astro Citre
Genre: Short movie, Comedy
Runtime: 5 mins
Release date: 2020
Rating: M18
In French with English subtitles
A man lives alone in an isolated house. One morning, he’s about to go to work when he realizes that his gas bottle has been stolen. One day, he finds himself face to face with his visitor…
SMILE!
Director: Roland Rossero
Cast: Roland Rossero, Delphine Mahieu, Fanny Dorio
Genre: Short movie, Comedy
Runtime: 6 mins
Release date: 2021
Rating: PG
In French with English subtitles
To please his daughter Agnès, Jean-Pierre came to replace a waiter in his restaurant. For this dad, a bit grumpy, welcoming customers is not easy.
SPARK
Director: Maxence Roques
Genre: Short movie, Comedy, Animation
Runtime: 3 mins
Release date: 2020
Rating: PG
Silent movie
Spark is a crazy ant who dreams of flying. He tests his machines with guinea pig ants. Each time the experiment fails, Spark starts over with a new invention.
BIGZ AND SMALL BOAS
Director: Wénael ASTIER
Cast: Mila Aurin, Juliana Bitton, Fany Torre
Genre: Short movie, Drama
Runtime: 18 mins
Release date: 2021
Rating: PG
In French with English subtitles
Oceane is not like all children of her age, her difficulties in class cause her the taunts of her classmates. Nevertheless, her temperament and friendship for Vai will give her the opportunity to distinguish herself.
DREAM CATCHER
Director: Linda TERIIEROOITERAI
Cast: Quentin Rouiller, Anouchka Hiva, Simanë WENETHEM
Genre: Short movie, Fantasy
Runtime: 8 mins
Release date: 2021
Rating: PG
In French with English subtitles
Grandfather and artist, he transmits to his granddaughter the pleasure of painting. By magic, at night, the paintings in the studio come to life. Overflowing imagination of artists or reality?
SOME LOVE
Director: Florian Belleil-Sagez
Cast: Chavi, T-Lion
Genre: Short movie, Music video, post-apocalyptic
Runtime: 7 mins
Release date: 2021
Rating: PG13
In French with English subtitles
In a near and apocalyptic future, two men think they are the last survivors. One lives a nomadic life, traveling with a solar-powered vehicle. The second, with a sedentary lifestyle, settled in a wreck on the reef. Will the two survivors manage to get in touch? And who still inhabits this ailing planet?
52 METERS LATER
Director: Frédéric RABAUD & Clotilde GOURDON
Cast: Emerson NÉMOUARÉ, Calixte NÉMOUARÉ, Kapuël MÉDIARA
Genre: Short movie, Social science fiction
Runtime: 7 mins
Release date: 2021
Rating: PG
In Xârâcùù with French and English subtitles
New Caledonia. Puré Kwé, a 12 year old boy, has finally found the old pig trap. Nûnûû, his grandfather, often talks about that. Although no one has seen pigs since The Event, Puré Kwé tries to fix the trap when he is interrupted by Anyââ, his grandmother.
In Partnership With
With the Support of:
PRINCES OF THE DESERT
2023
26 MARCH – 4PM
Director: Eric Barbier
Cast: Yassir Drief, Alexandra Lamy, Youssef Hajdi
Genre: Fiction, Family, Adventure, Comedy
Runtime: 100 mins
Rating: TBC
In French with English subtitles
Zodi, a 12-year-old nomad, meets an orphaned baby camel in the desert. After rescuing it, feeding it, and calling it Téhu, Zodi becomes Téhu’s best friend. Zodi finds out through Julia, a veterinary, that Téhu is an outstanding runner and that he could bring a lot of money to Zodi’s tribe. But the camel’s exceptional abilities whet the appetite of Tarek, a poacher from the region. To prevent Téhu from being captured and sold, Zodi runs away and crosses the Sahara on Téhu’s back. During his journey, Zodi will face Tarek, survive a sandstorm, and cross the salt sea, hoping to eventually register Téhu to the world’s biggest Camel race in Abu Dhabi. With Julia’s help, Zodi will try everything to fulfil his dreams of making Téhu a champion and saving his tribe.
ART OF FREEDOM: THE HIMALAYAS
2011
26 MARCH – 6.30PM
Director: Marek Klosowicz
Cast: Reinhold Messner, Wojciech ‘Voytek’ Kurtya, Marian Bala
Genre: Documentary, Sport
Runtime: 71 mins
Rating: PG
In Polish with English subtitles
The documentary film Art of Freedom answers the most poignant questions on the phenomenon of Polish expeditions to the Himalayas. Poles have reigned the highest mountaintops of the world for more than 20 years. They not only set down new trails, but new rules of behavior. They set themselves apart with an original style of climbing, endurance, conscientiousness about the overall well-being of the team – and solidarity.
In Partnership With:
THE FIRST SWALLOW
1975
27 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Nana Mchedlidze
Cast: Dodo Abashidze, Ipolite Khvichia, Guram Lortkipanidze
Genre: Musical, Adventure, Comedy
Runtime: 75 mins
Rating: PG
In Georgian with English subtitles
Together with a few like-minded people, Jason – an enthusiastic and renowned inhabitant of Poti in Georgia – forms the town’s first-ever football club. Despite being ridiculed by their fellow citizens and criticized by their families, the players continue to train and try to popularize football despite the poverty and lack of sports material. After defeating numerous foreign and domestic teams, a team of English sailors beat the’ Swallows’.
In Partnership With:
COUSCOUS, THE SEEDS OF DIGNITY
2017
28 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Habib Ayeb
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 60 mins
Rating: TBC
In Arabic with English subtitles
Couscous is a food staple for the entirety of the Maghreb population (North Africa). By focusing on the political, social, economic, and ecological conditions of its production and preparation, this documentary shows that the issue of food security is at the heart of human dignity challenges, especially in the rural world. Without food sovereignty, a people or a nation’s dignity is nothing but a malapropism. The recent invasion of Ukraine and the staggering rise in food prices on the world market are an instance of that. The continent which suffers the most from this situation remains Africa.
In Partnership With:
Embassy of the Republic of Tunisia Jakarta
BLINDFOLD
2020
29 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Taras Dron
Cast: Stars Maryna, Koshkina, Oleg Shulga, Larysa Rusnak
Genre: Drama, Sport
Runtime: 100 mins
Rating: M18
Yullia, a MMA champion, struggles to win fights since her fiancé was declared war dead. She is about to move on when her late fiancé’s mother gets a text message saying that her son is alive and in need of money… A forceful movie about a woman trying to free herself from the burden of her destiny.
In Partnership With
LAST DANCE
2022
30 MARCH – 7.30PM
Director: Delphine Lehericey
Cast: François Berléand, Kacey Mottet Klein, Maria La Ribot
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Runtime: 84 mins
Rating: NC16
In French with English subtitles
At the age of 75, Germain, a contemplative and homely man, finds himself a widower and is trying to cope with his children’s invasive anxiety. True to a promise he made to his wife years ago, he is going to have to take his place in a contemporary dance performance, in secret from his family.
In Partnership With
