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This year’s Cannes films make debut on S’pore screens

SINGAPORE — The Cannes Film Festival is seen as one of the most prestigious festivals for cinematic excellence, but let’s face it, not everyone has the chance to fly to the French Riviera to partake in the festivities there.

Ice And The Sky a gripping documentary about climate change showing at the 5th Rendezvous With French Cinema.

Ice And The Sky a gripping documentary about climate change showing at the 5th Rendezvous With French Cinema.

SINGAPORE — The Cannes Film Festival is seen as one of the most prestigious festivals for cinematic excellence, but let’s face it, not everyone has the chance to fly to the French Riviera to partake in the festivities there.

It’s a good thing, then, that the fifth edition of Rendezvous With French Cinema has brought the Cannes Film Festival right to our doorstep.

Taking place from now until Sunday, the annual film festival organised by the Institut Francais, the Alliance Francaise and uniFrance boasts a whopping 20 films, some of which made headlines at Cannes this year. All the films have not been previously released in Singapore.

Benjamin Dubertret, ambassador of France to Singapore, said: “Through these films, Rendezvous With French Cinema has also become the stage from which attention is brought to issues of the day that are not only relevant to France but to the international community as a whole.”

One of the films shown is Dheepan, the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or (Cannes’ biggest prize). Directed by Jacques Audiard, it tells the story of a Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger fighter who decides to flee the war in his homeland, taking with him a woman and child he does not know, in hopes of getting political asylum in Europe.

The film underscores the current pressing issue of the ongoing migrant crisis that Europe is facing, throwing up pertinent questions about cultural integration and economic survival for migrants across several European cities. Dheepan also bears relevance to audiences in South-east Asia as the region grapples with the refugee situation of the Rohingyas.

“Stories like that of Dheepan need to be told more so during these times, of war and insensitivity,” Dheepan actress Kalieaswari Srinivasan told 
TODAY. “To bring out the humane side in us to the forefront.”

Apart from Dheepan, Rendezvous With French Cinema will be offering other Cannes highlights. Choice selections include My King (Mon Roi), directed by Maiwenn and starring Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Bercot, who won the Best Actress award in Cannes for her role in the film.

Then there’s The Measure Of A Man (La Loi Du Marche), the film that won Vincent Lindon the festival’s Best Actor award, as well as the Cannes 2015 Directors’ Fortnight Selection, My Golden Days. There is also Valley Of Love (which was part of the Cannes 2015 Official Selection), a deeply moving metaphysical grief drama that reunites French cinema legends Isabelle Huppert and Gerard Depardieu on screen after 35 years.

The Cannes Film Festival’s closing film, Ice And The Sky (La Glace Et Le Ciel) is also on the roster. A documentary that retraces about scientist Claude Lorius’s life journey in the Antarctic. From his first steps as a young glaciologist to his winning the Blue Planet Prize — the Nobel Prize of environmental sciences — Ice And The Sky brings forward environmental issues that need to be urgently addressed.

Visit http://www.rendezvouswithfrenchcinema.sg for more information.

SOME OF THE CANNES FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

Ice And The Sky, Dec 9. 9pm, Golden Village Suntec

The Measure Of A Man. Dec 10, 8pm, Alliance Francaise Theatre; and Dec 13, 9.15pm Golden Village Plaza Singapura

My Golden Days. Dec 10, 9pm, Golden Village Plaza Singapura

Valley Of Love. Dec 11, 9.30pm, Golden Village Plaza Singapura

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