Six French-speaking nations join CCF film fest

Six French-speaking nations join CCF film fest

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): The only common tie between these countries is
French or their people's use of it during the colonial period.
Through the language there is enough of a cultural bonding for
them to participate in Cinema des Pays Francophones (Cinema from
French-speaking countries).

Six films from Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, France, Mali and
Tunisia will be shown at Taman Ismail Marzuki, organized by the
Centre Culturel Francais (CCF), on March 22 and March 23.

Directed by Cheik Oumar Sissoko, one of the most talented
directors in Africa, the 1995 film Guimba, un tyran, une epoque
(Guimba, a tyrant, an era) tells of a tyrant ruler in Shitakili,
a town in Mali.

Guimba Dunbuya, the tyrant, has a son called Janguini, who has
been engaged to the beautiful Kani Coulibaly since their
childhood. However, when Janguini visits Kani's house, he falls
for her mother, Meya. Guimba, who loves and spoils his son, first
tries to persuade Meya's husband to divorce his wife. When the
husband doesn't comply, Guimba drives him from the city. The
husband then flees to a hunting village, where a plan to
rebel against the tyrant is prepared. Under the lead of Siriman
Keita, a hunter, they are going to attack the city.

A dominating father is also a character in Belgium's La
Promesse (The Promise, 1996). In this piece, however, the
character on the run is the son himself. A father and his teenage
son employ illegal immigrants in their construction project. An
accident causes the death of one of the immigrants, which causes
the son to escape from the dominating father. Set in the crime-
ridden city of Leigi, this film by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardene
shows the ruthless and dark reality of people living in poverty.

Cannes

Les silences du palais (The silence of the palace, 1994) won
the director, Moufida Tlatli, the Quinsaine des Rialisateurs
award at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. This first feature film
of Tlatli tells the bitter story of a 25-year-old Tunisian woman
called Alia.

Alia works as a singer at wedding banquets, but it only gives
her humiliation and nothing else. Her devotion to Lotfi, a man
whom she has lived together with for many years, only results in
repeated abortions. Fed up, she finally stands up to him.

She was born an illegitimate child to a woman working as a
maid to Prince Sid Ali. During the funeral of Prince Sid Ali,
Alia visits the palace where she spends her childhood and teenage
years. Her visit might reveal an answer to her life's mystery.
Could her father be the prince himself?

A haunting past is also the theme of the Canadian film, La
Confessional (The Confessional, 1995). After living in China for
three years, Pierre returns to Quebec to attend his father's
funeral.

During his visit, he and his adopted brother Marc try to bring
back their adolescent memories, which they hope will help them
discover their true selves.

Strangely, all the memories remind them of Alfred Hitchcock's
1952 film, La loi du silence, set in Quebec. Little by little,
Hitchcock's suspense story becomes absurdly entangled with the
life stories of the two brothers.

Cambodia

Happiness and certainty are inseparable for the Cambodian
family portrayed in Les gens de la riziere (The people of the
rice field, 1994). For Vong Poew, his wife and seven daughters,
cultivating rice is not only their way of life, but also a source
of happiness and a guarantee of well-being. The cyclical process,
however, has a fragile balance and could easily slide into
tragedy.

Les Gens de la riziere is the first feature film of
33-year-old Cambodian director, Rithy Pahn. His films are usually full of
daily emotions, regular activities, and long dialog. Ironically,
the film is a contrast to Pahn's dramatic life. He was only 10
years old when the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh. In 1975, he
had to endure a Khmer Rouge "brainwashing" camp, but he escaped
to Thailand in 1979. The next year, he went to France, where he
studied cinematography.

France's L'enfer (Hell, 1994) also tells about a tragedy.
This time it is about a love story that ends tragically. On the
surface, Paul (Francois Cluzet) and Nelly (Emmanuelle Beart) are
a perfect couple in love. However, their relationship is
jeopardized when Paul's jealousy becomes uncontrollable. He
questions Nelly's fidelity. The wife, who has always given her
sincere love, finally gets tired of his blind accusations.

Directed by Claude Chabrol, one of the most productive French
directors, L'enfer is a mix of romance, tragedy and suspense.
Here, Chabrol uses narrative voices to help strengthen the
characters' acting.

CCF, the festival organizer, boasts that French is spoken by
200 million people in 49 countries, which belong to La
Francophonie, a kind of commonwealth for French-speaking
countries. In fact, Cinema des Pays Francophones is part of
"World French Speaking Day," which is celebrated today, March 20.

Although they claim that French is their common thread, the
films are made in their native languages. Only those from
Belgium, Canada and France have dialog in French. The Malinese
film is in Bambara, the Tunisian in Arabic and the Cambodian in
Khmer. All of the films will have English subtitles.