By Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
THE CALL to 'discover another kind of cinema' has been issued by Alliance Francais in association with the diplomatic missions of France and Canada with the 2004 Francophone Film Festival. The festival will have its official opening on November 10 at the Palace Cineplex.
This year's festival features 16 films, all of which will be played at the Palace Cineplex. The festival runs for eight days. Four of these come from African nations while the others originate from France and Canada. The Barbarian Invasion the sole film from Canada will be screened at the opening ceremony.
The Barbarian Invasion, with its Academy Award for best foreign film under its belt, is the catch of the festival. Along with the opening ceremony on November 10 , The Barbarian Invasion returns as a part of the festival on November 13, at 8:00 p.m.
The sample of four African films is a first time for the festival but should be a welcome addition for those who want to explore what the mother continent has to offer. These four films will close out the festival, running on the last two days.
Sango Malo, le Matre du Canton directed by Bassek Ba Kobhio comes from Cameroon which along with José Laplaine's Macadam Tribu (Democratic Republic of Congo) will play on November 17.
THE END
Yam Daabo, (The Choice) directed by Idrissa Ouedraoga (Burkina Faso) and Guimba, un tyran, une Epoque directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko (Mali) ends the festival on November 18.
All four African films are dramas and along with The Barbarian Invasions there are two other drama's in the festival, both of which are from France. There is Robert Guédiguarian's La Ville est Tranquille and Marc Esposito's Le Coeur de Hommes. The festival will also feature a film for children, the animated flick La Table Tourante directed by Paul Grimault and Jacque Demy.
A half of the films in this year's festival will be from the 'whodunit', that is mystery genre. These eight films come via the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and provide a cinematic peephole into ten years of the genre in France. The earliest of the films to be featured in the festival, Gérde a vue directed by Claude Miller, was produced in 1981. Two other films from the 1980s make their way to the festival. Claude Cabrol's 1986 film Inspecteur Lavardin and Francois Truffaut's 1983 Vivement Dimanche.
THE 1990S
The 1990s are represented by L. 627 (1991) directed by Bertrand Tavernier and Guilluame Nicloux's 1998 film Le Poulpe. The 'whodunit' genre is completed by three films from 2000: L'affaire Marcorelle (directed by Sergé Le Peron), Les Marchands de Sable (directed by Pierre Salvodori), and Scénes de Crimes (directed by Frédéric Schoendoerffer).
The cost for entry to the films is $350 to the general public and $300 to Alliance Francaise members and students. However there is also the option to get a booklet of four tickets for $1000.00. Additionally those who want to make a night of going to the theatre will find they can watch two movies on one night for the price of one, as the second movie on the same night is free.
