A SELECTION OF FILMS ON SUSTAINABILITY
Alliance Française de Singapour is proud to present the 2022 edition of the Francophonie Film Festival! This year, the Francophonie Festival is focused on the theme of sustainability. The issue of global warming is an increasingly pressing concern, and Alliance Française would like to do its part in helping shed light on the issues and questions surrounding the environment. From breathtaking documentaries that showcase the beauty of the natural world that we must protect, such as “Untamed Romania”; to a film that brings the impact we have had to the forefront, as seen in “What Happened to the Bees?”; to the display of the hopeful willpower of children in “The Crusade”, we have a lineup of films that bring us through the big questions we must face: What kind of relationship do we have with the natural world around us? How do we humans factor
into the constant and yet constantly changing patterns of life around us? What have we wrought upon the world, and most importantly, what can we do now to help?
Ticket: $13.5 (AF Member) | $15 (Non-Member)
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
Presented By:
THE CRUSADE
2021
11 MARCH – 8PM + 12 MARCH – 6PM
Director: Louis Garrel
Cast: Louis Garrel, Laetitia Casta, Joseph Engel
Runtime: 67min
Rating: PG13
Category: Comedy
French, with English subtitles
Abel (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…
In Partnership With:
CORN ISLAND
2014
13 MARCH – 5PM
Director: Giorgi Ovashvili
Cast: Ilyas Salman, Mariam Buturishvili, Irakli Samushia
Runtime: 100min
Rating: NC16
Category: Drama
Georgian, Abkhazian and Russian with English subtitles
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 ripen, the old man is confronted by the inescapable cycle of life.
In Partnership With:
A WALK THROUGH THE LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS
2021
13 MARCH – 3PM + 19 MARCH – 2PM
Director: Chema Domenech
Runtime: 11min
Rating: TBC
Category: Documentary
English with English subtitles • Free
Claver Ntoyinkima, a native park ranger, shares the secrets of Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda as he guides us through the forest. With about 300 bird species, over 1,000 plant species, and dozens of large and small mammals, Nyungwe is one of the most biodiverse places in the world. Twenty-seven years after the devastation of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the park is now one of the best-conserved montane rainforests in Central and East Africa. As Claver walks through the forest, we uncover the origins of his conservation values and the history of an ecosystem that survived one of Rwanda’s darkest periods.
In Partnership With:
With The Support Of:
DOLPHIN MAN
2017
13 MARCH – 8PM
Runtime: 78min
Rating: M18
Category: Documentary
English with some French, Italian, Greek and Japanese with English subtitles
“Dolphin 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 archives from the 1950s onwards, with stunning contemporary underwater photography.
In Partnership With:
THE RETURN OF THE LION AND THE RHINO
2018
13 MARCH – 3PM + 19 MARCH – 2PM
Director: Laurie Hedges
Runtime: 25min
Rating: TBC
Category: Documentary
English and Kinyarwanda with English subtitles • Free
This documentary by film-maker, Laurie Hedges, highlights the developments made in Akagera National Park, managed by the Rwanda Development Board 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.
In Partnership With:
With The Support Of:
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BEES?
2019
17 MARCH – 8PM + 20 MARCH – 4PM
Directors: Adriana Otero Puerto, Robin Canul Suárez
Runtime: 68min
Rating: PG
Category: Documentary
Spanish with English subtitles
The documentary is about 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 of transgenic soy in their territory.
This movie is preceded by a short animated film titled “The Cosmic Twins” by Alejandro Voorduin.
In Partnership With:
LITTLE FOREST
2018
18 MARCH – 8PM + 23 MARCH – 8PM
Director: Yim Soon-rye
Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Ryu Jun-yeol, Jin Ki-joo
Runtime: 67min
Rating: PG
Category: Drama
Korean with English subtitles
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. Throughout the four seasons, Hye-won slowly finds the real pleasure of living a simple life, and realises the genuine reason to return homeland. New spring is approaching, and she takes the first step in her brand new life.
In Partnership With:
THE COSMIC TWINS
2021
17 MARCH – 8PM + 20 MARCH – 4PM
Director: Alejandro Voorduin
Runtime: 26min
Rating: PG
Category: Animation / Fantasy
Spanish with English subtitles
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.
In Partnership With:
LYNX
2021
19 MARCH – 5PM + 26 MARCH – 2PM
Director: Laurent Geslin
Runtime: 82min
Rating: TBC
Category: Documentary
English
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.
In Partnership With:
ROMANIA UNTAMED
2018
19 MARCH – 8PM
Director: Tom Barton-Humphreys
Narrator: Mark Strong
Runtime: 91min
Rating: TBC
Category: Documentary
English
Beyond the commotion of the cities, there is a remarkable natural life. Unbeknownst to anyone, millions of plants and animals put on a show filled with splendour, grace, ferocity, honesty, and humour. “Untamed Romania” documentary is a journey into this fantastic world, with the Carpathian mountains, the Danube delta and Transylvania as significant areas of interest. Breathtaking images, well-dosed scientific information, and music specially composed for the film, this documentary – shot in some of the most biodiverse places in Europe – helps us see differently a continent that we thought we knew everything about.
In Partnership With:
THE RISE OF THE PLASTIC SANDAL
2021
24 MARCH – 8PM
Director: Florian Vallée
Runtime: 51min
Rating: TBC
Category: Documentary
French with English subtitles
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:
AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN
2019
20 MARCH – 7PM + 25 MARCH – 8PM
Director: Louise Archambault
Cast: Andrée Lachapelle, Gilbert Sicotte, Kenneth Welsh, Éric Robidoux,
Ève Landry, Patricia Nolin, Rémy Girard
Runtime: 126min
Rating: M18
Category: Drama
French with English subtitles
“And the Birds Rained Down”, directed by Louise Archambault, is a film adaptation of the award-winning novel of the same name. Written by Canadian writer, Jocelyne Saucier, the story shines a spotlight on the orderly and quiet lives of a group of hermits in the wilderness of Québec, who have chosen to “live only for themselves” in the aftermath of a devastating wildfire that destroyed the area. Between the arrival of a new member of their group and the attention of a young, investigative photographer, the rich tapestry of their lives unfolds, revealing the beauty of living with nature and of second chances.
In Partnership With:
THE LAST SMILE
2018
26 MARCH – 4PM
Director: Diep Sovandara
Cast: Lim Chealay, Ella Sen Phearun, Om Sovankiri, Lux Sovan Rapha, Tep Rindaro
Runtime: 110min
Rating: PG
Category: Drama
Khmer with English subtitles
Sonatra is a smart and beautiful female student. She loves music and has just 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 Yuth will sing this song for everyone. Everything ended when they both had a car accident on their way back.
In Partnership With:
