This edition echoes the SDGs of the UN’s 2030 agenda with a lineup that raises awareness on gender equality, climate action, responsible consumption and production, and more.
Cinema Akil has announced the launch of its FrancoFilm Festival on March 5, 2021, in collaboration with the Embassies of France, Switzerland, Canada Luxembourg, and Belgium in the United Arab Emirates. The annual festival aims to celebrate the French language through cinema. The 11th edition of FrancoFilm Festival echoes the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN’s 2030 agenda with a lineup that raises awareness around topics central for a sustainable world ranging from gender equality to climate action and decent work and economic growth.
The Festival, running until March 11, will feature regional premieres across genres including critically acclaimed drama, documentary, comedy and animated feature films opening with the award-winning Red Soil by Farid Bentoumi, co-produced by Dardenne Belgian brothers. Red Soil questions many aspects of nowadays society and will necessarily contribute to raise awareness about climate, environmental, and responsible production goals.
Speaking about the FrancoFilm festival, HE Xavier Chatel, Ambassador of France to the UAE, said: “When the Emirati and French foreign ministers, HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Jean-Yves Le Drian, met in October 2019 in Abu Dhabi, they insisted that urgent joint work was needed to make our world more sustainable. And I believe that cinema – that most beautiful secret room of our fancy, can contribute to this lofty objective. And doing so, we can also work to densify our people-to-people exchanges, and deepen our cultural affinity. Such cooperation is more needed than ever, as culture is facing unprecedented challenges. I hope that FrancoFilm 2021 can provide a lull, a jolt, or at least a moment of pleasure in a sector that has suffered much. Everyone can play a part. The upcoming Expo Dubai will be for France the opportunity to showcase the best innovations towards SDGs that will contribute to a more responsible and sustainable planet”.
Echoing the Sustainability goals of the UN’s 2030 agenda, this year film lineup aims to explore ways to develop a future with more responsibility and raise awareness regarding topics that are central for a sustainable world.
Butheina Kazim, Founder of Cinema Akil, added: “For the past two editions of FrancoFilm, we have collaborated with our partners to present a new way of showcasing the best of French-speaking cinema through thematized annual programmes including FrancoArab Film Festival (2019 edition) and FrancoFilm: CineAfrica (2020). In this third and most challenging edition, we reaffirm our commitment to our communities by returning safely and consciously with programming that engages in a meaningful discussion around the SDGs through the lens of cinema and the moving image.
“We’re proud to rejoin forces with our partners at this critical moment, which presents us with an urgency to present brave and powerful cinema that tackles the critical issues challenging our shared humanity.”
Other films include Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary by Rémi Chayé, Philippe Garrel’s The Salt of Tears, The Swallows of Kabul directed by Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec and more.
