francOfilm festival 2016
Timbuktu
The sixth edition of francOfilm festival is on from 4th - 6th March in Dubai (Vox Cinemas in Mall of the Emirates) and Abu Dhabi (Vox Cinemas in Marina Mall).
This year's edition includes films from France, Canada, Luxembourg, Mauritania, Belgium and Switzerland. Each screening will be preceded with short films by Emirati filmmakers, previously screened at Dubai International Film Festibal 2015).
All movies will have English subtitles and 'Chocolat' will also include Arabic subtitles.
Ticket price: AED 30 available on voxcinemas.com
Schedule and line up of films:
Friday, 4th March at 3.00pm
Birds of passage / Les Oiseaux de passage (2015)
Directected by Olivier Ringer | G | 84 min | Belgium
For Cathy, it is not always easy to be born on February 29th, especially when for her birthday, her father gives her an egg to hatch. But it is probably less difficult than to be suffering from myopathy as her best friend Margaux.
Friday, 4th March at 5.00pm
The passion of Augustine / La passion d’augustine (2015)
Directed by Lea Pool | 103 min | Canada
Taking place in rural Québec, The Passion of Augustine is an unpredictable film about a nun with a passion for teaching music. It’s the 1960s and rebellion smolders and change is in the air. This is the “Quiet Revolution,” a period of socio-political and cultural change characterized by the act of secularizing education away from the Roman Catholic Church.
Mother Augustine is the principle of a small convent music school that is known for producing prize-winning musicians, yet they must undergo radical change to get with the times or risk losing everything. Marked by the arrival of Mother Augustine’s hip young niece, Alice Champagne, the nuns and girls band together to change it up, play music, and save their convent.
Boasting hilarious moments that could only come from when plucky old nuns meet the psychedelic punch of ’60s counterculture, and a truly heartwarming core, The Passion of Augustine is a lovely comedy that will leave you singing.
Friday, 4th March at 7.00pm
Timbuktu (2014)
Directected by Abderrahmane Sissako | Mauritania | 97 min
Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by religious fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya, and Issan, their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the inhabitants suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith.
Women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic sentences. Kidane and his family seem to be spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes when Kidane accidentally kills Amadou, the fisherman who slaughtered "GPS," his beloved cow.
Saturday, March 5th at 3pm
Aunt Hilda/ Tante Hilda (2014)
Directed by JR Girerd, Benoit Chieux | 89min | Luxembourg
In her plant museum, Tante Hilda, a great nature lover, conserves thousands of plants from around the world, many of which are nearly extinct.
Meanwhile, Attilem, a new cereal developed by industrialists, which can be cultivated with little water and no fertilizers, and produces huge yields, seems like the miracle solution to stamping out famine, following in the footsteps of petrol, whose reserves are rapidly diminishing. But disaster isn't far off...
Saturday, March 5th at 5pm
Sister/ L’enfant d’en haut (2012)
Directed by Ursula Meier | 97 min | Switzerland
A luxury ski resort in Switzerland. Twelve year old Simon lives in the industrial valley below, with his jobless sister, Louise. Every day, he takes the ski-lift to the opulent ski world above, stealing equipment from the rich tourists to resell to the local kids back down below.
Louise benefits from Simon's petty crimes, which begin to take on bigger proportions, and she becomes increasingly dependent on him.
Saturday, March 5th at 7pm
Chocolat (2016)
Directed by Roschdy Zem | 110 min | France
From the circus to the music hall, from anonymity to glory, this is the incredible story of Monsieur Chocolat, the first black artist of the French stage.
The duo he formed with Footit met with huge and popular success in Belle Epoque Paris, before fame, easy money, gambling, and discrimination wore out their friendship and Monsieur Chocolat's career. The film retraces the true story of this remarkable artist.
Sunday, March 6th at 9.30am (school screening only)
The Little Prince (2014)
Directed by Mark Osborne | 108 min | France
It's the story of a story. It's the story of a little girl, intrepid and curious, who lives in an adult world. It's the story of an aviator, eccentric and facetious, who never really grew up.
It's the story of the Little Prince who will bring them together in an extraordinary adventure.