FRENCH film Selfie is a quirky satire about our obsession with social media and what misadventures can arise.
Five stories are wired into this comedic offering including geeky parents exploiting a child's illness, a teacher finding love or not with her new phone and a social media star called Toon, as well as an executive addicted to ratings on a dating app.
There are some funny haha moments but dig into the premise and you will relish that the joke is really on us.
Selfie is part of the 19th Le French Festival 2020 (LFF 2020) with 15 other movies, art exhibitions, music shows, theatre performances and gastronomic servings on the menu, beginning on March 19.
Some are based on true stories, such as Donne moi des ailes (Spread Your Wings). The 2019 movie is based on the life of a specialist on wild goose migrations and his attempt to bind with his teenage son on a trip with the birds.
Highly nominated in the Cesar awards 2020 is The Specials (Hors norms). It revolves around educators Bruno (Vincent Cassel, Black Swan) and Malik (Reda Kateband), who have been working with autistic children for 20 years.
They also train young people from difficult neighbourhoods to supervise the cases, which the medical structures refuses to do. But Bruno's association is being investigates by Social Affairs.
Animated movie The Prince's Voyage (Le voyage du prince) is a fantasy about a boy taken in by an underground scientist and shown a city equipped with state-of-the-art technology, but whose inhabitants think they are the only civilised beings in the world.
The LFF 2020 organisers Alliance Française (AF) and the French Embassy have invited Paper Flags' (2018, Les drapeaux de papier) director, Nathan Ambrosioni, for a meet-the-public session and screening in March.
It's a first for LFF in Malaysia, and the self-taught Ambrosioni, now 20, will talk about his feature movie which he made in 2018.
Paper Flags is about a man released from prison who reconnects with his sister after a 12-year absence.
On the music front, rockstar Manu Chao will perform in an acoustic set music from his album Sibérie m'était contée, as part of his Southeast Asian tour, while classically trained French harpist Maia Darmé with Malaysia's string ensemble Kamerata KL will perform Solstice Lunaire.
A circus show called Gasp is on at the Damansara Performing Arts Centre with two artistes performing with globes, cyr wheels, and balls, and photographer Roger Kasparian will premiere his exhibition on his work with celebrities in the Sixties.
The festival includes bread-baking workshops, food and drink tastings, and cooking classes.
The variety of gastronomic delights available at the upcoming LFF 2020 does seem to offer a remarkable voyage into the truest form of French arts, as Alliance Française Kuala Lumpur director Jacques Bounin said during the a launch event at Golden Screen Cinemas in Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur recently.
The LFF 2020 will start in Kuala Lumpur from March 19 to April 26, and move on to Penang (April 9-19), Johor Baru (April 16-19) and Kota Kinabalu (April 23-26).
For more details, visit www.lefrenchfestival.com.my.