Women’s rights, war atrocities and the sexual politics of the working class are some of the themes of the movies at this year’s Francophonie Film Festival at Idecaf, 28 Le Thanh Ton Street, HCMC’s District 1, March 28 - April 3.

“Rumba” tells about a couple Dom and Fiona, both teach in a elementary school. They love each other and have the same passion for the Latin dance Rumba. One night on the way home after winning a dance competition, they have a car accident when Dom swerves to miss a someone standing on the road. Fiona loses a leg while Dom loses his memory turning their lives up side down. 

The 77 minute film starring Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon, Bruno Romy, Philippe Martz, Clément Morel will show at 8 p.m. on March 28.  

“Déchaînées” by Raymond Vouillamoz will show at 8p.m. on March 29 starring Paolina Biguine, Raphael Bonacchi and Adèle Haenel.

Lucie, is a 19-year-old pregnant student. Between her mother, who wants her to have an abortion, and her ex-boyfriend, who presents her with a wedding ring, she doesn’t know how to feel. 

When she discovers a look-alike while researching archival footage about the women’s liberation movement, she convinces herself that she can find the answers if she can locate the mysterious woman. Soon she is startled to discover that the woman, Genevieve, a well-known feminist militant in Geneva, is actually her real grandmother. Why did she disappear? Challenging her own mother, Lucie discovers the truth and learns about the history of the fight for women’s rights in Switzerland. 

“Déchaînées” was awarded best Swiss movie in 2009 and is screened on the occasion of the 40th

anniversary of the female suffrage in Switzerland.

“Quartier Mozart” is 48 hours in the life of a working class neighborhood in Yaounde. It recounts the not very sentimental education of a young schoolgirl, Queen of the ‘Hood, whom a local sorceress helps enter a young man’s body so she can see for herself the real “sexual politics” of the quarter.

“Quartier Mozart” was awarded the Prix Afrique en Creation at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival and has enchanted film festival audiences from New York to New Dehli. This film starring Jimmy Biyong, Serge Amougou, Sandrine Ola’a will show at 8 p.m. on March 30.

“Le tata” at 6 p.m. on April 1. Every year, the Présence Africaine Friends organise a memorial day at the Tata Chasselay cemetery to remember the events of June 19-20 in 1940, at Chasselay. On that day, the Senegalese colonial troops of the French army, who were outnumbered 100 to 1 delayed the entrance of German troops into Lyon, which was declared  “Open city” on the June 18, 1940.

On the June 20, 1940, at the end of the second battle at Château du Plantin, the prisoners were divided white French soldiers and black Senegalese. After a two-kilometer walk, the French soldiers, lying in the meadows witnessed the massacre of the Senegalese soldiers some by machine guns and others crushed by military tanks of the SS Totenkopf division. The French soldiers were imprisoned in Lyon. The Chasselay inhabitants, horrified by this massacre, buried the bodies of the Senegalese soldiers in a cemetery, inaugurated on November 8, 1942. Every year an official ceremony is held at Chasselay, in the presence of Senegalese and French representatives.

“Délice Paloma”, a French comedy will screen at 8 p.m. on April 8. Madame Aldjéria, with her team, fixes people’s problems in exchange for cash. She doesn’t hesitate to dirty her hands in order to survive in a country where no holds are barred. Paloma, her new recruit, catches everyone’s eye, beginning with Riyad, Aldjéria’s son.

“Mauvaise foi” will show at 3 p.m. on April 2 starring Roschdy Zem, Cécile de France, Pascal Elbé. 

Can a Jewish woman and an Arab man fall in love and live happily ever after? That’s the question raised by this film. Although the couple is not religious, will their differences eventually drive them apart? And, will their families accept their children marrying outside of their religion?

“Bedwin Hacker” directed by Nadia El Fani will show at 3 p.m. on April 3, starring Sonia Hamza, Tomer Sisley, Alberto Canova.

From a remote mountain village in Tunisia, Kalt, a female hacker hijacks the airwaves in Northern Africa and France to broadcast political messages. When Julia, a French Intelligence officer, gets on the case, she flies in from France to infiltrate the hacker world and find out who is behind the interruptions. Things quickly turn into a cat-and-mouse game as Kalt and Julia play each other to get what they want.

Source: SGT