The annual Le French Festival 2023 (LeFF) returns for its 21st edition this May with 15 French movies and is set to take place from May 25 to June 25, 2023. The LeFF celebrates the best of French cinema and showcases a diverse selection of contemporary French movies.
This year, the French Film Festival will be screened in 7 GSC locations ie GSC Mid Valley, GSC Nu Sentral, GSC MyTown, GSC 1 Utama, GSC Gurney Plaza Penang, GSC Paradigm JB and for the first time – in GSC CityOne Megamall Kuching.
The Festival provides an opportunity for film enthusiasts to appreciate the unique style and vision of French filmmakers. From the artistic black and white films of the French New Wave to the modern, socially conscious dramas of today, the French Film Festivals highlights the diversity and evolution of French cinema through the years.
Tickets for French Film Festival 2023 will be sold at the prevailing GSC ticket price. Tickets can be purchased from May 18 onwards via GSC e-payment at https://www.gsc.com.my, GSC Mobile App and GSC ticketing kiosk at the participating cinemas.
1. Les Trois Mousquetaires - D’Artagnan (FR) / The Three Musketeers - D’Artagnan (ENG)
LIMITED SCREENING
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 121
Rating – 16
Genre – Adventure, Historical
Cast – François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï
Director – Martin Bourboulon
Producer – Chapter 2, Pathé Films
Release year – 2023
Awards –
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – D'Artagnan, a spirited young Gascon, is left for dead after trying to save a young woman from being kidnapped. When he arrives in Paris, he tries by all means to find his attackers. He is unaware that his quest will lead him to the heart of a real war where the future of France is at stake. Allied with Athos, Porthos and Aramis, three musketeers of the King with a dangerous temerity, D'Artagnan faces the dark machinations of the Cardinal of Richelieu. But it is when he falls madly in love with Constance Bonacieux, the Queen's confidante, that d'Artagnan truly puts himself in danger. For it is this passion that leads him into the wake of the one who becomes his mortal enemy: Milady de Winter.
2. RISE [EN CORPS]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – En corps (FR) / Rise (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 118
Rating – 18
Genre – Drama, Comedy
Cast – Marion Barbeau, Pio Marmaï, François Civil, Denis Podalydès
Director – Cédric Klapisch
Producer – Ce qui me meut
Release year – 2022
Awards – Nominated for the following César Awards in 2023: Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Most Promising Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Elise thought she had the perfect life: an ideal boyfriend and a promising career as a ballet dancer. It all falls apart the day she catches him cheating on her; and after she suffers an injury on stage, it seems like she might not be able to dance again. The path to physical and emotional recovery will lead her away from Paris to a picturesque location in Brittany – where her friends, a new love and the freedom of contemporary dance will help her reconnect with her father and most importantly, herself.
3. NOVEMBER [NOVEMBRE]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Novembre (FR) / November (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 107
Rating – 16
Genre – Thriller, Drama
Cast – Jean Dujardin, Anaïs Demoustier, Sandrine Kiberlain, Jérémie Rénier
Director – Cédric Jimenez
Producer – Récifilms, Chi-Fou-Mi Productions
Release year – 2022
Awards – Nominated for the following César Awards in 2023: Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Plunge into the heart of the Anti-Terrorist investigation during the 5-day manhunt following the November 13 terrorist attacks.
4. TENOR [TÉNOR]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Ténor (FR) / Tenor (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 101
Rating – 18
Genre – Comedy
Cast – Michèle Laroque, MB14, Guillaume Duhesme
Director – Claude Zidi Jr.
Producer – Firstep, Darka Movies
Release year – 2022
Awards –
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Antoine, a young Parisian suburbanite, studies accounting without much conviction, dividing his time between the rap battles he practices with talent and his job as a sushi delivery boy. During an errand at the Garnier Opera, his path crosses that of Mrs Loyseau, a singing teacher in the venerable institution, who detects in Antoine a raw talent to be developed. Despite his lack of operatic culture, Antoine is fascinated by this form of expression and is convinced to follow Mrs Loyseau's teaching. Antoine has no choice but to lie to his family, his friends and the whole city, for whom opera is a bourgeois thing, far from their world.
5. FAREWELL, MR HAFFMANN [AU REVOIR MONSIEUR HAFFMANN]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Adieu Monsieur Haffmann (FR) / Farewell, Mr Haffmann (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 116
Rating – 18
Genre – Drama, Historical
Cast – Daniel Auteuil, Sara Giraudeau, Gilles Lellouche, Nikolai Kinski
Director – Fred Cavayé
Producer – Vendôme Films
Release year – 2022
Awards – Shown at the Sarlat Film Festival
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Paris 1941. François Mercier is an ordinary man whose only goal is to start a family with Blanche, the woman he loves. François works for Mr. Haffmann, a talented Jewish jeweler. Under the German occupation, the employer and employee are forced to strike a deal which, over the following months, will upend the fate of our three protagonists.
6.THE INNOCENT [L’INNOCENT]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – L’Innocent (FR) / The Innocent (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 99
Rating – 16
Genre – Comedy
Cast – Louis Garrel, Noémie Merlant, Roschdy Zem, Anouk Grinberg
Director – Louis Garrel
Producer – Les Films des Tournelles
Release year – 2022
Awards – Won the following César Awards in 2023: Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay. Nominations for the following César Awards: Best Film, Director, Best Actor, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Original Music.
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – When Abel learns that his 60-year-old mother Sylvie is about to marry a man in prison he freaks out. With the help of his best friend, Clémence, he will do whatever it takes to protect her. But meeting Michel, his new stepfather, may well offer him a new perspective…
7. THE NEW TOY [LE NOUVEAU JOUET]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Le Nouveau Jouet (FR) / The New Toy (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 112
Rating – P12
Genre – Comedy
Cast – Jamel Debbouze, Daniel Auteuil, Alice Belaïdi, Simon Faliu
Director – James Huth
Producer – Eskwad
Release year – 2022
Awards –
Synopsis – Samy lives happily outside the system, in the housing projects, alongside his childhood friends and his wife Jihane, who is expecting their first child. To provide for the needs of his future family – very reluctantly – he takes a job as a night watchman in a luxury goods store. Philippe Etienne is the wealthiest man in France. Cold, unfeeling, since his wife died a year ago, he has devoted himself entirely to his business. Alexandre – his only son, and heir to the entire Etienne fortune – keeps his father at arms’ length, seeking refuge in the lonely world of the spoiled child. For his birthday, Philippe opens the toy department of the store where Samy works and tells Alexandre he can take whatever he wants. Alexandre chooses Samy!
8. FATHER & SOLDIER [TIRAILLEURS]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Tirailleurs (FR) / Father & Soldier (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 101
Rating – 13
Genre – Historical, Drama
Cast – Omar Sy, Alassane Diong, Jonas Bloquet, Alassane Sy
Director – Mathieu Vadepied
Producer – Unité, Korokoro
Release year – 2023
Awards – shown at Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard section)
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – 1917. Bakary Diallo enlists in the French army to be near Thierno, his 17-year-old son, forced to serve. Sent to the front, father and son must brave the war together. Animated by the ardor of his Captain who wants to lead him into the heart of the battle, Thierno must emancipate himself and become a man. Meanwhile Bakary does whatever it takes to spare his son from fighting, and to bring him home safe and sound.
9.EVERYBODY LOVES JEANNE [TOUT LE MONDE AIME JEANNE]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Tout le monde aime Jeanne (FR) / Everybody Loves Jeanne (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 93
Rating – 16
Genre – Drama, Comedy, Romance
Cast – Blanche Gardin, Laurent Lafitte, Maxence Tual, Marthe Keller
Director – Céline Devaux
Producer – Les films du Worso
Release year – 2022
Awards – Shown at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival International Critics’ Week
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Everybody has always loved Jeanne. These days, she hates herself. Up to her ears in debt, she has to go to Lisbon and sell her mother’s apartment, who passed away one year ago. At the airport, she runs into Jean, a whimsical and somewhat intrusive former high school classmate.
10. THE NANNIES [LES FEMMES DU SQUARE]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Les Femmes du square (FR) / The Nannies (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 105
Rating – 16
Genre – Comedy
Cast – Eyé Haidara, Ahmed Sylla, Léa Drucker, Vidal Arzoni
Director – Julien Rambaldi
Producer – Les Films du Kiosque
Release year – 2022
Awards – Shown at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Angèle, a young undocumented woman in her thirties lives off small tricks and scams in the outskirts of Paris. One day, threatened by gangsters she conned, she has to hide. Her plan: working as a nanny in a chic Parisian neighborhood for Hélène, a single mom of 10-year-old Arthur.
11. PEACEFUL [DE SON VIVANT]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – De son vivant (FR) / Peaceful (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 119
Rating – P12
Genre – Drame
Cast – Catherine Deneuve, Benoît Magimel, Gabriel Sara, Cécile de France
Director – Emmanuelle Bercot
Producer – Les Films du Kiosque
Release year – 2021
Awards – Won the César Awards for Best Actor in 2022
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – A son in denial of a serious illness. A mother facing the unbearable. And between them a doctor and a nurse fighting to do their job and help them find acceptance. The four of them have one year and four seasons to come together and understand what it means to die while living.
12.FULL TIME [A PLEIN TEMPS]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – A plein temps (FR) / Full Time (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 85
Rating – 16
Genre – Drama, Thriller
Cast – Laure Calamy, Anne Suarez, Geneviève Mnich
Director – Eric Gravel
Producer – Novoprod
Release year – 2022
Awards – Orizzonti Award for Best Film and Orizzonti Award for Best Actress at 2021 Venice International Film Festival
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Marie goes to great lengths to raise her two children in the countryside while keeping her job in a Parisian luxury hotel. When she finally gets a job interview for a position she had long been hoping for, a national strike breaks out, paralyzing the public transport system. The fragile balance that Marie has established is jeopardized. Marie then sets off on a frantic race against time, at the risk of foundering.
13.ROOKIES [ALLONS ENFANTS]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Allons enfants (FR) / Rookies (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 113
Rating – 13
Genre – Documentary
Cast –
Director – Thierry Demaizière, Alban Teurlai
Producer – Falabracks
Release year – 2022
Awards – shown at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival; nominated for Best Documentary at the 2023 Césars awards
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – In the heart of Paris, a prestigious high school takes an audacious bet: To integrate students from working-class districts and to make them break the circle of school failure through hip hop dance. Rookies tells their story.
14.ROBUST [ROBUSTE]
Movie title – Robuste (FR) / Robust (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 95
Rating – 16
Genre – Drama, Comedy
Cast – Gérard Depardieu, Déborah Lukumuena, Lucas Mortier
Director – Constance Meyer
Producer – Dharamsala
Release year – 2022
Awards – Shown at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival International Critics’ Week
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – When his right-hand man and only mate has to go away for a few weeks, Georges - an ageing film star - is given a substitute, Aïssa. The disillusioned actor and the young female security guard forge a special relationship.
15.ALL YOUR FACES [JE VERRAI TOUJOURS VOS VISAGES]
LIMITED SCREENING
Movie title – Je verrai toujours vos visages (FR) / All Your Faces (ENG)
Language – French
Subtitles – English
Running time – 118
Rating – 16
Genre – Drama
Cast – Adèle Exarchopoulos, Dali Benssalah, Leïla Bekhti, Elodie Bouchez
Director – Jeanne Herry
Producer – Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, Trésor Films
Release year – 2023
Awards –
Movie Trailer:
Synopsis – Since 2014, in France, Restorative Justice has offered victims and perpetrators of offences the opportunity to dialogue through secure systems, supervised by professionals and volunteers such as Judith, Fanny or Michel. Nassim, Issa, and Thomas, sentenced for theft with violence, Gregoire, Nawelle and Sabine, victims of home jacking, robbery and purse snatching. Also Chloe, victim of incestuous rape, all engage in measures of Restorative Justice. On their journey, there is anger and hope, silence and words, alliances and heartbreaks, awareness and regained confidence. And at the end of the road, sometimes, reparation.
