Vive la France – there's a new festival for film enthusiasts and Francophiles to this Bastille Day. Despite cinemas reopening in Phase 2, physical events including film festivals remain cancelled. Thus, the Embassy of France in Singapore has teamed up with Shaw Organisation to debut the city's first online French film festival on July 14, which coincides with the French National Day.
Hosted on the newly launched digital platform KinoLounge by Shaw Theatres, the Singapore French Summer Festival invites film lovers of all ages to watch a curated mix of eight newly-released French films, popular titles, and all-time favourites from now until July 31. That's not all – there are also Q&A sessions with film directors and cast too.
Albeit online, the festival covers a range of genres including family-friendly live-action movies, animated films, rib-tickling comedies, and tear-jerking dramas. Don't worry if your French is a bit rusty – the films come with English subtitles.
The Lost Prince
The opening film of the festival is the recently released The Lost Prince by Academy Award-winning director Michel Hazanavicius. The modern-day fairytale follows a devoted single dad whose life centres around his seven-year-old daughter. Another must-watch film is Proxima which highlights a rocky turn in a mother-daughter relationship when the astronaut mum is selected to be part of the crew of a year-long space mission.
Look forward to comedies such as The Best is Yet to Come about two long-lost friends reunited after a monumental misunderstanding, and Meet the Malawas which takes you to an unknown destination occupied by one of the most isolated tribes in the world. And if you can't get enough of Mohamed Hamidi's football film Queens of the Field, tune into an online Q&A session with the director and actress Céline Sallette on July 29.
Families can gather the brood for a white-fronted geese-saving adventure in Spread Your Wings, and a journey to track a great bear king's long lost son in The Bears Famous Invasion of Sicily. More kid-friendly titles include Ballerina, The Son of Bigfoot, The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales, The Beauty and the Beast, and Of Love and Lies.
While most of the films featured in the festival will remain accessible after July 31 via a dedicated space on KinoLounge aptly named Le French Cinema, the festival makes a great alternative to soaking up the sights and sounds of France.
"The Singapore French Summer Festival illustrates the deep-rooted cultural ties between France and Singapore, partners in happy times as well as in more challenging times. As the world's borders are still waiting to open up, we are glad that this festival will allow the public to travel and wander in different realities and cultures," says Marc Abensour, the ambassador of France to Singapore.
For more information on the Singapore French Summer Festival, visit kinolounge.shaw.sg.
