Abu Dhabi: The 2016 francOfilm festival, a festival that celebrates the French language in film, will take place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from March 3 to March 6.
The six edition of the event will be screening at Vox Cinemas in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall and Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates and will feature films from six countries — France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Mauritius and Canada.
The festival will begin on March 3 with the Middle East premiere of the movie Chocolat featuring award-winning actor Omar Sy. All films are subtitled in English and Chocolat will also be available in Arabic.
The director of francOfilm festival, Mohammad Bendjebbour, explained that the idea of the festival is to celebrate cinmatique arts and to bring to the audience in the UAE a different selection of films from what is generally screened in multiplex cinemas.
“We are in a market which is becoming the biggest market, the Arab World, in terms of movies but, unfortunately, the audience only has a choice between Hollywood and Bollywood, I love both cinemas…but I think the citizens of the country and the population in general is a wider audience,” said Bendjebbour.
A short film by an Emirati filmmaker, selected by Dubai International Film Festival, will be screened before each movie to showcase the works of Emirati filmmakers.
“Emirati short films have the same problem as international cinema has, which is trying to be shown and showcased in the cinemas over here. So we decided to help the Emirati film makers to be seen by the community, before every long feature we have a short film by an Emirati filmmaker,” said Bendjebbour.
The festival is organised by Institut Français des Emirats arabes unis, the cultural department of the French Embassy, together with Alliance Française in the UAE, and with the support of the DIFF.
For more information visit www.if-uae.com
