Sandrine Bonnaire retrospective at the 16th French Film Festival

June 9 - 19, 2011 Shangri-La Plaza

June 23 - 25, 2011 Ayala Center Cebu

June 28 - July 2, 2011 UP Film Institute

So what’s an entry about a film festival doing at a blog that’s supposed to be all about classical music? Well, whenever I watch concerts sponsored by various foreign embassies/cultural organizations, I am always informed of their other non-music related projects like plays, dance performances, art exhibits and film showings. The Laure Favre-Kahn piano concert that I watched some time ago is a part of FrancoPhil, the 2011 French cultural season in the Philippines organized by the Embassy of France to the Philippines and Alliance Française de Manille. FrancoPhil does have a lot to offer aside from the concert so it’s only natural for me to explore and see for myself what these other events are. One of the events just happened to be the 16th French Film Festival which is just around the corner.

The 16^th French Film Festival starts with an invitational only screening of the film Le Marquis during the opening night happening this June 8, 2011 at the Shangri-La Plaza. This film is the first ever French-Filipino movie co-production and was shot in Cebu in 2010.

The festival, which also features a retrospective on Sandrine Bonnaire, will have its regular screening also at the Shangri-La Plaza starting on June 9, 2011 and will continue up to June 19, 2011. As always, admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets will be available at the ticket booth one hour prior to the screening of the film. Expect long lines during weekends but the waiting to get tickets and to get inside the cinema is all part of the fun experience at these film festivals.

I’ve tried going at these film festivals whenever schedule allowed me to go and I didn’t target any movies at all. I just went in and hoped that I would like whatever film that was shown at that time. And many times, I was surprised to see how well things turned out in the end. But for those who really want to watch armed with information, head over to spot.ph to see the festival schedule and film synopses. And on June 12, 2011, the festival will exclusively screen films by Filipino director Auraeus Solito in honor of the Philippine Independence Day.

The film festival then continues on June 23 - 25, 2011 at the Ayala Center, Cebu and will have its final run on  June 28 - July 1, 2011 at the UP Film Institute, UP Diliman Campus.

Tickets:

Free admission. First-come, first-served basis

For inquiries:

culturel.ambafrance.manille@gmail.com

633-2227