Voilah!

Festival highlights

The Lumineoles Ballet will be part of this year's Voilah!. PHOTO: PORTE PAR LE VENT
Le Congres is one of the films to be screened at the French Animation Film Festival as part of Voilah! PHOTO: LE CONGRES

LUMINEOLES BALLET

If you are in the Marina Bay area this evening, look up and you might spot colourful fish-like figures lighting up the night sky.

Created by French art company Porte Par Le Vent, these dream-like 7m by 15m "kites" will glide through the air from Clifford Pier to the ArtScience Museum tonight, before heading to the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay tomorrow evening.

Brightly lit flowers will also illuminate the ground along the same route tonight, and at the Gardens tomorrow.

This is the Asian premiere of Lumineoles Ballet, which was first commissioned for the Lyon Festival of Lights.

Where: Marina Bay area and Supertree Grove, Gardens by the Bay

When: Tonight, 7.30 to 9.30pm at Marina Bay Sands; tomorrow, 7.45 and 8.45pm at Supertree Grove

Admission: Free

Info: voilah.sg/opening1/

GAUMONT: 120 YEARS OF CINEMA

Find out what a film studio looked like a century ago at this exhibition, a visual timeline of the history of the world's oldest film studio Gaumont. Founded in 1895 by Leon Gaumont, the French company is behind more than 900 films, including hits such as The Fifth Element (1997) and 8½ (1963).

Audio-visual sequences of films, vintage movie posters, and the initial sketches of the costumes for The Fifth Element by French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, will be on show.

Look out for Gaumont Actualite, a video of news snippets from Gaumont's archives from the region including Singapore. During the 1920s in France, these short and punchy bits of news were shown before the screening of the films.

Sixteen films from the Gaumont catalogue will also be screened at the National Design Centre, The Projector or the Alliance Francaise.

Where: National Design Centre, 111 Middle Road

When: Today till May 15, 9am to 9pm for exhibition. Film screenings run from Sunday to May 29 at various timings

Admission: Free. Tickets for film screening are either free or cost $13. Book online

Info: voilah.sg/gaumont-120/

GOURMET PICNIC WITH FRENCH CLASSICAL CONCERT

Pack a picnic basket with French cheeses, pastries and wine for an evening of French classical music at Singapore Botanic Gardens.

An open string quartet led by French bigwig violinist, Amaury Coeytaux, will perform classics such as Clair De Lune by Claude Debussy and Leo Delibes' Flower Duet.

The performance will be opened by martial arts expert Ding Zhaoxia, as she exhibits moves to the rhythm of the classical music.

Where: Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage, Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road

When: Sunday, 6 to 8.30pm

Admission: Free

Info: voilah.sg/picnic/

YVES SAINT LAURENT: BIRTH OF A LEGEND

Through the lens of the late French photographer Pierre Boulat, take a peek into late fashion great Yves Saint Laurent's life as he prepared for his first solo fashion show in 1962 at age 26.

Boulat spent five weeks closely tailing Saint Laurent, and the exhibition features 49 black-and-white photos of the French couturier at work and in intimate moments.

There will be a screening of biopic Yves Saint Laurent (2014) on April 27 too. The film looks back at the French designer's life from 1958, when he meets his business partner and lover, Pierre Berge.

Where: Societe Generale Gallery, Alliance Francaise de Singapour, 1 Sarkies Road

When: April 28 to May 21; film screening on April 27 at 8.30pm

Admission: Free for exhibition, $19 for a film ticket

Info: www.alliancefrancaise.org.sg/

SUPERSTARS OF BALLET

The top 13 principal ballet dancers in the world gather at Marina Bay Sands to twirl and leap to highlights from ballet classics such as Le Corsaire and Don Quixote.

The dancers come from renowned ballet companies and include Karl Paquette, Laura Hecquet and Alexis Saramite, all from the Paris Opera Ballet.

Where: Grand Theatre, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue

When: April 29, 8pm; April 30 and May 1 and 2, 7.30pm

Admission: $65 to $205 (call 6348-5555 or go to www.sistic.com.sg)

Info: voilah.sg/superstar-ballet/

LE CLOWN DES MARAIS

Watch a man's metamorphosis into a clown as he takes on the personas of Lucky from the Samuel Beckett play Waiting For Godot and Shakespeare's Richard III.

Avant-garde French performance artist Jean Lambert-wild will step on stage as himself before transforming into his white-faced double. He will be joined by some of his students from a masterclass at Lasalle College of the Arts.

The performance, which is in French with English surtitles, will be preceded by a documentary about Lambert-wild's work.

Where: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road

When: May 20 and 21, 8pm; May 22, 3pm

Admission: $12 for students and $25 for standard ticket (available on Sistic from next week)

Info: voilah.sg/clown-des-marais/

FRENCH ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL

Fans of the 1940s children's classic The Little Prince can catch the film adaptation at this year's fifth edition of the film festival.

Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince, 2015) will be screened for the first time here, alongside five other French animated movies, including Le Congres (The Congress, 2013), which stars American actress Robin Wright as a fictional version of herself.

In the movie, she agrees to a digital avatar of herself that can be used in any future films.

Where: Alliance Francaise Theatre, 1 Sarkies Road

When: May 27 to 29

Admission: $13 to $19

Info: www.alliancefrancaise.org.sg

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 15, 2016, with the headline Festival highlights. Subscribe