Entering its 16th edition, Le French Festival (LFF) 2017 (formerly named the French Art & Film Festival) is an eagerly anticipated event on the annual Malaysian cultural agenda. With a 15-year track record of providing audiences in Malaysia with an immersive experience into French culture, the festival continues to grow in both audience reach as well as programme variety.
Each year, the festival showcases a unique offering, highlighting current cultural trends and topics direct from France. And from 4th May to 18th June 2017, audiences in Malaysia can look forward to a selection of the latest French films, live shows with a number of visiting French artists, exhibitions, events in gastronomy, and more. With most of the events happening in the Klang Valley, the festival also hosts a number of events in its second home of Penang, with this year’s LFF even stretching east to reach Kota Kinabalu.
Organised by the Alliance Française (AF) and the Embassy of France in Malaysia, and supported by the Institut Français, the festival is, as it has been since its debut, presented by Martell. With the roots and cornerstone of the festival being the Film Festival in partnership with Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), this year marks the first time that the Film Festival will be presented in 3 cities (Klang Valley, Penang and KK). Besides celebrating French culture, the festival also aims to promote and support French trade and tourism.
Along with the carefully curated programme for LFF that always offers something for all ages, public interest in French culture in itself spans across various demographics. With an ever-growing audience, the 2016 festival attracted up to 12,500 spectators (an increase of 3,000 from the last edition), with up to 6,000 cinema goers also showing an increase of 11% in box office seats from the year before.
The festival’s diverse fan-base consists of Malaysians as well as locally-based French and international residents, tourists visiting Malaysia during the festival period, expats, tertiary students, children and general culture aficionados of all ages and backgrounds. Art-enthusiasts, cinema-buffs, music-lovers and foodies alike can expect to continue to have their senses stimulated by this year’s LFF, which will even extend to new and unique categories such as performance arts and architecture.
As always, the French Film Festival will provide staple entertainment for the duration of the festival, showcasing only the latest releases in French cinema. With GSC’s reach as the largest cinema exhibitor in Malaysia, the Film Festival will make its usual stops in the Klang Valley and Penang before making its exciting debut in Kota Kinabalu this year.
Proving that movies make an effective medium for human emotion to transcend language, this year’s LFF will present a number of heart-warming comedies and dramas, making up some 17 recent titles from French cinema. Among some of the titles we can look forward to this year include
- Family comedy “The Fabulous Patars (Cigarettes et chocolat chaud)” starring Gustave Kervern,
- “One Man and His Cow (La Vache)”
- “Rosalie Blum”,
- “Our Futures (Nos Futurs)”,
- “Chocolat (Monsieur Chocolat)” starring Omar Sy (of Intouchables fame), and
- the biopic “The Odyssey (L’Odyssée)” based on the life of maritime explorer and conservationist Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
As with previous showings, the films will be screened in French with English subtitles and are subject to approval from the Censorship Board of Malaysia. Tickets will be easily available via GSC box office; and simple browse over to http://www.gsc.com.my for showtimes and online booking. True international film buffs can also keep a lookout to win tickets via media contests and giveaways.
*Trailers for the films can be found online on Youtube and via LFF’ s official website.
MEET & GREET: GUSTAVE KERVERN (FRENCH ACTOR & FILMMAKER)
- Friday, 5 May 2017 at GSC Pavilion KL; 9pm
How often do you go to the cinema and actually get to meet the actor in the film you just watched? Cinema-goers with a ticket for the Friday night (5 May)-showing of the heart-warming family comedy “The Fabulous Patars”at GSC Pavilion KL, will have a chance to not only meet but also ask questions to visiting French actor Gustave Kervern, who will be in KL to meet and greet with fans.
“The Fabulous Patars” follows the comedic experiences of Denis (played by Gustave Kervern), an overworked single father struggling to bring up his boisterous daughters. An accomplished and beloved member of the French film community, the actor, director, producer and screenwriter has received numerous awards and nominations including from the Sundance Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, César Awards (French equivalent of Oscars), Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival.
