Rémi Chayé’s Tout En Haut Du Monde (Long Way North). Courtesy Diaphana
Rémi Chayé’s Tout En Haut Du Monde (Long Way North). Courtesy Diaphana

Catch up on the crème de la crème of French-language cinema at the Francofilm Festival



The Francofilm Festival returns this weekend to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, celebrating not only French cinema, but films from the wider francophone world. This year’s event, the seventh edition, features movies from France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Senegal and Switzerland.

The screenings will take place simultaneously at Vox cinemas in both cities, at Yas Mall in the capital and Mall of the Emirates in Dubai. This year, the festival runs from Thursday to Saturday, rather than spanning a full week, as was the case with previous events – ­organisers explain that they have decided to give audiences the chance to watch several films each day, rather than the previous one-per-day approach.

The festival opens at 9pm on Thursday with the regional ­premiere of Emmanuel Courcol's drama Cessez-Le-Feu (Ceasefire). It tells the story of a First World War veteran's efforts to recover from the trauma of trench ­warfare by travelling in Africa with an ­artist, while also trying to mend ­damaged relationships with ­family and friends.

Animation is the theme on ­Friday, with Rémi Chayé's Annecy Award-winning adventure Tout En Haut Du Monde (Long Way North) starting the day at 2pm. The film is a proto-feminist tale of ­adventure, in which Sacha defies her parents and sets out to track down her ­explorer grandfather, who has failed to return from an expedition to the North Pole.

Claude Barras's Oscar-­nominated Ma Vie De Courgette (My Life as a Zuchinni) follows at 6pm. This stop-motion Swiss comedy drama was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, losing out to Disney's Zootopia, and was also the Swiss entry for the Best ­Foreign Language Film Oscar, but failed to make the final shortlist. It won two Cesar Awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars, and also earned a Golden Globe nomination.

Saturday's closing-day triple bill returns to live-action features. First up, at 2pm, is Moussa Sène Absa's 2002 Senegalese social drama L'Extraordinaire destin De Madame Brouette (Madame ­Brouette).

Savina Dellicour's Belgian ­coming-of-age drama Tous Les Chats Sont Gris (All Cats are Grey) follows at 4pm, before Pol Cruchten and Frank Hoffmann's Luxembourgeois film noir, Les Brigands (The Robbers), brings this year's festival to a close at 7pm.

Francofilm is a joint production of the Institut Français des Emirats Arabes Unis, Alliance Française Dubai and Abu Dhabi and the Dubai International Film Festival.

• Tickets for each screening cost Dh25. Pre-booking is possible, but not essential, at www.voxcinemas.com

cnewbould@thenational.ae

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As it stands in Pool A

1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14

2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11

3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5

Remaining fixtures

Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am

Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm

Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm

Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

Need to know

When: October 17 until November 10

Cost: Entry is free but some events require prior registration

Where: Various locations including National Theatre (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, Zayed University Promenade, Beach Rotana (Abu Dhabi), Vox Cinemas at Yas Mall, Sharjah Youth Center

What: The Korea Festival will feature art exhibitions, a B-boy dance show, a mini K-pop concert, traditional dance and music performances, food tastings, a beauty seminar, and more.

For more information: www.koreafestivaluae.com

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The bio

Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.

Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.

Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.

Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.

UAE WARRIORS RESULTS

Featherweight

Azouz Anwar (EGY) beat Marcelo Pontes (BRA)

TKO round 2

Catchweight 90kg

Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) beat Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)

Split points decision

Welterweight

Gimbat Ismailov (RUS) beat Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR)

TKO round 1

Flyweight (women)

Lucie Bertaud (FRA) beat Kelig Pinson (BEL)

Unanimous points decision

Lightweight

Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) beat Regelo Enumerables Jr (PHI)

TKO round 1

Catchweight 100kg

Marc Vleiger (NED) beat Mohamed Ali (EGY)

Rear neck choke round 1

Featherweight

James Bishop (NZ) beat Mark Valerio (PHI)

TKO round 2

Welterweight

Abdelghani Saber (EGY) beat Gerson Carvalho (BRA)

TKO round 1

Middleweight

Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) beat Igor Litoshik (BLR)

Unanimous points decision

Bantamweight

Fabio Mello (BRA) beat Mark Alcoba (PHI)

Unanimous points decision

Welterweight

Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magomedsultanov (RUS)

TKO round 1

Bantamweight

Trent Girdham (AUS) beat Jayson Margallo (PHI)

TKO round 3

Lightweight

Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) beat Roman Golovinov (UKR)

TKO round 1

Middleweight

Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Steve Kennedy (AUS)

Submission round 2

Lightweight

Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)

TKO round 2

Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas

Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa

Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong

Rating: 3/5

THE SIXTH SENSE

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Rating: 5/5

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The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Director: Goran Hugo Olsson

Rating: 5/5

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T20 World Cup Qualifier

October 18 – November 2

Opening fixtures

Friday, October 18

ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya

Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE

UAE squad

Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan

Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed

Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed

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The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

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