media release french movie and style icon sophie marceau opens

For Immediate Release
MEDIA RELEASE
FRENCH MOVIE AND STYLE ICON SOPHIE MARCEAU OPENS SOCIETE
GENERALE PRIVATE BANKING 2ND RENDEZVOUS WITH FRENCH
CINEMA IN SINGAPORE
Singapore, 5 December 2012 – Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd
Rendezvous With French Cinema rolls out the red carpet today to welcome
France’s top leading lady, Sophie Marceau. She is in Singapore to officially open the
festival and to present her latest film, Happiness Never Comes Alone.
The festival returns for its 2nd outing from 5 to 9 December 2012 and will serve up the
very best of contemporary French cinema. Covering every genre from drama to
comedy and from crime to animation, Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd
Rendezvous With French Cinema offers something for everyone, including the
opportunity for local audiences to interact with the people behind the films during
selected post-screening sessions. The festival also goes beyond just providing
entertainment, as it is a platform for the French film industry to access the regional
market. It also serves as a flagship cultural event for Societe Generale Private
Banking to showcase France’s cultural and cinematic heritage to Asia.
Premiering in Singapore and Southeast Asia at Societe Generale Private Banking
2nd Rendezvous With French Cinema, Happiness Never Comes Alone is a
romantic comedy directed by James Huth. The film is also one of the premiere
screenings of ScreenSingapore, a partner event of Societe Generale Private
Banking 2nd Rendezvous with French Cinema.
“Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd Rendezvous With French Cinema has
become one of the highlights of the Singapore film calendar. We welcome Ms Sophie
Marceau to Singapore to open her film, Happiness Never Comes Alone and to lead
the French artistic delegation on the red carpet in launching the festival,” says H.E
Olivier Caron, the French Ambassador in Singapore.
Happiness Never Comes Alone tells of a love story between two people who are
made for each other despite having nothing in common. Sacha (Gad Elmaleh) is a
talented jazz pianist who does not take life too seriously. He loves his friends, his
piano and to party. At night, he plays in a jazz club and enjoys the company of the
young women he meets. He lives for the moment, looking for pleasure, with no
responsibility, no family, and no taxes. Sacha's carefree life comes to a halt when he
accidentally meets a forty-something career woman named Charlotte (Sophie
Marceau) one rainy afternoon. Sacha soon discovers that Charlotte has three
children, not to mention a jealous soon-to-be ex-husband who runs the multinational
company they both work for. Sacha and Charlotte may appear to have nothing in
common, but they somehow may just be made for each other.
Starting out in the movie industry at the young age of 14, Sophie Marceau achieved
popularity with her debut films La Boum (1980) and La Boum 2 (1982). In 1983, she
received a César Award for Most Promising Actress. She is known internationally for
her roles in the movie Braveheart (1995) and the James Bond thriller, The World Is
Not Enough (1999). With a string of film successes behind her, Sophie Marceau’s
presence at the Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd Rendezvous With French
Cinema signals the growing importance of Singapore and other Southeast Asian
markets to the French cinema industry.
Sophie Marceau’s attendance at Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd
Rendezvous With French Cinema is also very much in line with Title Sponsor,
Societe Generale Private Banking’s goal of nurturing the festival into a top French
cultural event in Asia.
“We are honoured to have Ms Sophie Marceau open Societe Generale Private
Banking 2nd Rendezvous With French Cinema in Singapore and to have her
associated with the bank through this cinematic platform. As a French bank we
always aim to bring the best of France to Asia. Ms Marceau embodies the best of
French cinema today and through the festival we hope to share the dynamism and
diversity of French cinema with our clients and film lovers from the region,” says Mr
Olivier Gougeon, Regional Chief Executive Officer – Asia Pacific, Societe Generale
Private Banking.
Sophie Marceau also leads an artistic delegation of 15 other French actors, directors
and producers in Singapore for Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd
Rendezvous With French Cinema. Her film, Happiness Never Comes Alone, is
among the 13 films featured in the festival. The film opens for public screening on
Sunday, 9 December at 9.15pm at The Cathay.
Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd Rendezvous With French Cinema is
organised by Institut Français, UniFrance and the Alliance Française de Singapour.
Film screenings will be held at The Cathay and the Alliance Française Theatre. It is
sponsored by Societe Generale Private Banking as Title Sponsor, with Perrier-Jouet
as Official Champagne, Air France as Official Airline, Renault as Official Car and
Angénieux as Official Film Industry Support. Other sponsors include Raffles Hotel as
Official Hotel, Christofle as Official Silversmith, Channel News Asia as Official Media
Partner, Class 95FM as Official Radio and The Wall Street Journal as Official
International Newspaper. It is also organised with the support of the Embassy of
France and the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), together with
partners Asia TV Forum & Market, ScreenSingapore, MDA, TV5Monde and France
24. Societe Generale Private Banking 2nd Rendezvous With French Cinema is
part of Encore the European Season and Voilah! 2012. The festival runs from 5 to 9
December
2012.
More
details
about
www.rendezvouswithfrenchcinema.sg.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Phish Communications
Nirwan Noran
Tel: 6344 2956
Mobile: 9271 3736
Email: nirwan@phish-comms.com
the
festival
can
be
found
at
Constance Goh
Tel: 6344 2953
Mobile: 9673 9465
Email: constance@phish-comms.com
Jennifer Wee
Mobile: 9837 5236
Tel: 6344 2953
Email: jennifer@phish-comms.com
###
About Societe Generale Private Banking
Societe Generale Private Banking, the wealth management arm of Societe Generale, is one
of the leading private banks worldwide, with EUR 85.6 billion of assets under management at
the end of June 2012.
With 2,600 staff in 18 countries across the globe, Societe Generale Private Banking offers
wealth management solutions to entrepreneurs and High Net Worth Individuals with financial
assets in excess of one million euros.
The expertise of its private banking teams in wealth planning, investment advisory and
financing solutions regularly receives awards. In 2012 Societe Generale Private Banking was
awarded for the 8th consecutive year ‘Best Private Bank in Western Europe for its offer in
Structured Products’ (Euromoney), and for the 2nd consecutive year ‘Best Private Bank in the
Middle East’ (Banker Middle East).
In 2011 Societe Generale Private Banking was also named ‘Best Private Bank in France’
(Euromoney) and ‘Global Wealth Manager of the Year’ (Investors Chronicle/Financial Times).
www.privatebanking.societegenerale.com
Follow us at: twitter.com/sg_privatebank
About Unifrance
Unifrance is the organisation in charge of promoting French cinema throughout the world.
Created in 1949, in the form of an association under the law of 1901, Unifrance is under the
supervision of the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée). The association
has nearly 600 members: producers of feature films and shorts, exporters, sales agents,
directors, actors, authors (screenwriters) and talent agents.
Ever since its creation, Unifrance Films International has carried out studies of international
markets and their evolution, and can thus offer today its truly unique expertise.
50 countries
therefore appear in the crosshairs of the association which follows the careers of French
feature films both in cinemas and on television, all year round. This follow-up (management of
data and market analysis, production statistics, accompaniment and follow-up of film sales
and distribution, knowledge of companies and their directors…) is the object of economic
studies, made available to the members of the association and every partner of French
cinema.
Unifrance accompanies French films on the international markets, from their sale to their
distribution.
Unifrance is present at every stage in the life of a French film abroad: from
selection by a recognised festival or its screening in an international market, to its theatrical
release in one or more foreign territories. Unifrance thus enhances the value of all recent
French films.
Unifrance takes part in more than 60 international festivals and markets,
including: the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Toronto
International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film
Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, Rome
Independent Film Festival, Locarno International Film Festival, AFM (American Film
Market)… During these events, the association facilitates the presence of artistic teams, hires
local press attachés, and makes available to French professionals areas for promotion and
commercialisation.
About Alliance Française de Singapour
The Alliance Française de Singapour, founded in 1949 is a non-profit educational
organisation, affiliated to the headquarters in Paris. It is one amongst the 1,085 Alliances
Françaises worldwide and serves 6,000 students every year. It is Singapore’s premier
French language school as well as a cultural centre bringing together artists from around the
world. The Alliance Française de Singapour contributes in a modest fashion to the regional
influence of the cultural scene of this City-State by positioning itself as a place of artistic
expression for emerging artists from all disciplines and as an institution that participates in a
movement to expand the cultural consciousness of the public. The Alliance Française de
Singapour is a rich and diverse community of people whose strength is built from inter-cultural
understanding, which is at the heart of all dialogue.
About Cathay Cineplexes
Cathay Organisation’s history as a pioneer in movie entertainment began on 18 July 1935
when it was incorporated as Associated Theatres Ltd (later changed to Cathay Organisation)
and opened its first cinema, The Pavilion, in Kuala Lumpur in 1936. In Singapore, Cathay
Organisation started operating its first cinema when it opened the Cathay Building in 1939.
Between the 1950s and 1970s, Cathay Organisation expanded its cinema network and
embarked on film production with studios in Hong Kong and Singapore. In November 1998,
Cathay Cineplexes Pte Ltd was incorporated in its efforts to deliver a consistently high quality
cinematic experience to patrons in Singapore and Malaysia. Cathay Cineplexes continues to
be a “choice destination” offering quality films with state-of-art technology including digital
projection and Singapore’s only THX-certified halls as well as service with a difference to
continually ensure that movie-going is a preferred leisure activity. Already a leading multiplex
operator in Singapore, the company’s vision is to make Cathay Cineplexes a leading
multiplex operator in South East Asia. For more information, please visit
www.cathaycineplexes.com.sg.