The 2021 Swiss drama 'Olga', about a young Ukrainian gymnast, will open the Francophone Film Festival. Photo: Point Prod
The 2021 Swiss drama 'Olga', about a young Ukrainian gymnast, will open the Francophone Film Festival. Photo: Point Prod
The 2021 Swiss drama 'Olga', about a young Ukrainian gymnast, will open the Francophone Film Festival. Photo: Point Prod
The 2021 Swiss drama 'Olga', about a young Ukrainian gymnast, will open the Francophone Film Festival. Photo: Point Prod

What to watch at the UAE's Francophone Film Festival 2022


Saeed Saeed
  • English
  • Arabic

The Francophone Film Festival is returning to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Running from March 25 to 31, the event will feature 11 French-language films encompassing various genres ranging from drama to comedy.

All works, chosen under the theme “belonging”, will be screened in Dubai’s Cinema Akil, while Abu Dhabi’s Alliance Francaise will show select titles on March 27.

The festival will open with the timely Swiss drama Olga.

The 2021 production follows the life of Olga (Anastasia Budiashkina), a Ukrainian gymnast aged 15 living in exile in Switzerland. Struggling to fit in with the Swiss national team, her life and loyalties are upended when the Euromaidan protests begin in Ukraine in 2013.

Other highlights include 2020's Sisters (screening on March 26 and 31), which looks at the relationship of three siblings who travel to Algeria in search of their long-lost brother.

With 2019 French drama 14 Days and 12 Nights, screening on March 27 and 29, the action moves to Vietnam. After her adopted child Clara dies, stepmother Isabelle travels to Hanoi to learn about her daughter's culture and to search for her biological mother.

Screening on the festival's last day is the 2021 psychological drama Madeleine Collins, which explores the double life of Judith (Virginie Efira) who raises two separate families in Switzerland and France.

The Francophone Film Festival is part of wider UAE cultural events in celebration of the annual UN French Language Day, observed internationally on March 20.

Expo 2020 Dubai will mark the occasion with a range of events under the banner of International Francophonie Day.

These include workshops and cultural displays held in 13 pavilions spanning France, Belgium, Canada, Lebanon, Morocco and Gabon.

An official ceremony will also take place at 4.30pm at the Al Wasl Plaza before a closing concert at the Jubilee Stage by French DJ Willy William and Canadian singer Marie Mai.

More information on the Francophone Film Festival is at cinemaakil.com

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The%20specs
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The specs
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MATCH INFO

Everton 2 (Tosun 9', Doucoure 93')

Rotherham United 1 (Olosunde 56')

Man of the Match Olosunde  (Rotherham)

Fixtures

Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs

Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms

Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles

Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon

Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Power: 905hp

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American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.

Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.

In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.

The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.

"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.

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Japan

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Norway

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Canada

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Singapore

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Australia

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Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

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Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

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Schedule for show courts

Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time

Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic

Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown

Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young

 

Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time

Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky

Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)

Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)

 

Court 2 - from 2.30pm

Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli

Florian Mayer v Marin Cilic (7)

 

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Lexus LX700h specs

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Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

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Rating: 4/5

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Updated: March 14, 2022, 1:14 PM`