The Francophone Film Festival is returning to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Running from March 25 to 31, the event will feature 11 <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2022/03/01/31-celebrities-on-truly-impressive-expo-2020-dubai-prince-william-to-malala/" target="_blank">French-language films </a>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 <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/2021/11/16/arabic-language-centre-and-arab-world-institute-ink-deal-to-support-arabic-language-growth/" target="_blank">Alliance Francaise </a>will show select titles on March 27. The festival will open with the timely Swiss drama <i>Olga</i>. 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 <i>Sisters</i> (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 <i>14 Days and 12 Nights</i>, 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 <i>Madeleine Collins</i>, 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. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/2022/03/01/31-celebrities-on-truly-impressive-expo-2020-dubai-prince-william-to-malala/" target="_blank">Expo 2020 Dubai</a> 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 <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/expo-2020/2022/03/04/theres-no-place-like-dome-al-wasl-plaza-shares-its-secrets/" target="_blank">Al Wasl Plaza </a>before a closing concert at the Jubilee Stage by French<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/2022/03/12/why-willy-william-wants-his-new-song-trompeta-to-be-the-anthem-of-2022-fifa-world-cup/" target="_blank"> DJ Willy William </a>and Canadian singer Marie Mai. <i>More information on the Francophone Film Festival is at </i><a href="https://www.cinemaakil.com/festival-details/745" target="_blank"><i>cinemaakil.com</i></a>