The Three Musketeers. Photos: Handout
The 21st edition of Le French Festival (LeFF 2023) is set to immerse its audiences in a month-long celebration of French culture, showcasing not only performing and visual arts, gastronomy and music but also a diverse range of contemporary French movies.LeFF 2023 will tour across four different cities from May 25 to June 25, starting from Kuala Lumpur, before moving on to Penang and Johor Baru, and finally Kuching, for its Sarawak premiere.
This year’s festival, presented by L’Oreal Paris, is co-organised by the Alliance Francaise de Malaisie in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, together with the Embassy of France in Malaysia and partners Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) and Martell. Gold sponsor Cartier is supporting the event for the second consecutive year.
The film segment of the festival offers 15 French movies showing at participating GSC outlets in Klang Valley (May 25 to June 11; GSC Mid Valley, MyTown, Nu Sentral and 1Utama), Penang (June 8 to 18; GSC Gurney Plaza), Johor Baru (June 15 to 18; GSC Paradigm Mall JB) and Kuching (June 22 to 25; GSC CityOne Megamall Kuching).
One of the highly-anticipated titles is an adaptation of The Three Musketeers (Les Trois Mousquetaires) by Alexandre Dumas, a milestone in French literature and cloak-and-dagger novels.
The Malaysian release of the film will be the movie's Asian premiere, following a successful kick-off in France last month (April).
“The first chapter of The Three Musketeers by Martin Bourboulon is definitely the lead movie of this edition, first of all, because it is the movie adaptation of a world-known novel, and secondly, because it gathers an exceptional cast with Vincent Cassel, Lyna Khoudri, Francois Civil and Eva Green.
Additionally, Malaysians will recognise Omar Sy in Father And Soldier, a touching historical movie about how soldiers were recruited during WW1 amongst former French colonies’ populations.
Farewell, Mr Haffmann
Celine Devaux is an interesting profile to keep an eye on – her first feature film Everybody Loves Jeanne develops a unique style incorporating some of her animated illustrations to reflect the character’s state of mind.
It is a very effective and ingenuous method to explore her psychology!” says Violaine Dupic, director of Alliance Française of Kuala Lumpur.
She notes that the 2023 movie selection features tales of emancipation, personal struggles and accomplishments, difficult family situations and historical events, which add a compelling layer of analysis to our understanding of the contemporary world.
“Movies have always been accurate mirrors of societies and a reflection of the period of time in which they were produced.
"Since its inception, French cinema has had a solid sociopolitical foundation.
"Through individual stories, one can learn about the situation of an entire population. Combined with strong lead characters and sharp cinematographic technicality, cinema becomes a magnifying glass and a powerful storytelling device,” she says.
Tickets for the LeFF 2023 films are sold at the prevailing GSC ticket price.
Movies are screened with English subtitles.
November
For the young ones, Le Petit Festival – the children’s chapter of the festival launched in 2022 - will entertain with animated movies, storytelling sessions and concerts at the Alliance Francaise de Kuala Lumpur and the Penang Public Library.
“The beauty of French cinema comes from the fact that it produces at the same time very ‘French’ movies in its content (statements) and form (aesthetics) but still manages to reach out to a worldwide audience.
While remaining deeply rooted in France and its on-ground realities, French movies carry messages that can substantially appeal to people all around the world,” says Asma Manssouri, Alliance Française of Kuala Lumpur’s cultural officer.
Apart from the diverse movie programme, she adds that there will be several exhibitions that will be held as part of LeFF.
This includes an augmented reality exhibition featuring the Notre-Dame Cathedral, a photography exhibition by French Lorraine Thiria and Malaysian Nadirah Zakariyah, a dance performance by Ole Khamchanla at The Godown and the Fete de la Musique at various locations in KL’s Chinatown.
Here is a quick look at a few LeFF 2023 movies:
The Three Musketeers
D'Artagnan travels to Paris to find his attackers after being left for dead, which leads him into the heart of a real war where the future of France is at stake.
Farewell, Mr Haffmann
After the Nazi occupation of Paris, a talented Jewish jeweller arranges for his family to flee the city and offers one of his employees the chance to take over his store.
Tenor
Tenor
Accounting student Antoine takes on singing lessons, but hides it from his family and friends for fear of repercussions.
Full Time
When a single mother finally gets a job interview, a national strike that paralyses the public transport system jeopardises her attempts to get there in time.
November
The film shows the investigations and the interventions of the police in the five days after a series of coordinated terrorist attacks on Nov 13 in Paris, in 2015.
Full Time
Get a free ticket for Le French Festival screenings in selected GSC outlets in Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Baru with the following promo code: FFFTSK00001Q2 (Klang Valley), FFFTSP00001FB (Penang) and FFFTSJ00001L9 (JB).
Redemption can be made at www.gsc.com.my, the GSC mobile app or GSC ekiosk at the participating GSC outlets by applying the promo code during checkout.
100 free tickets are available for each city: Klang Valley, Penang and Johor.
Book your tickets from May 18.
Terms and conditions
- The promo code is valid for all Le French Festival 2023 movies at the participating GSC outlets in Klang Valley (GSC Mid Valley, MyTown, Nu Sentral and 1Utama; May 25 to June 11), Penang (GSC Gurney Plaza; June 8 to 18) and JB (GSC Paradigm Mall JB; June 15 to 18).
- Valid for one-time use only including advance sales, for adult single seat for 2D movie format only.
- Non-redeemable or expired promo codes are not refundable or extendable.
- Valid for LeFF 2023 (May 25 to June 25, 2023) only.
- Booking fee is inclusive and redemption is subject to seat availability (first come, first served basis).
- The promo code is not exchangeable for cash, and is not valid with ongoing promotions and offers.
For more information, visit www.alliancefrancaise.org.my, www.alliancefrancaise.org.my/le-french-festival/ and www.gsc.com.my.
