PREVIEW: 2026 ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL

The 37^th Alliance Française French Film Festival has revealed a full program of 38 films, screening over nine weeks, across 18 cities and 40 venues from 3 March – 26 April 2026. The nation’s largest film festival and celebration of French film outside France will see festivalgoers embark on a unique cultural journey featuring French box-office smash-hits, star-studded adaptations, Hollywood stars and Cannes masterpieces.

"This year’s programme reflects the extraordinary vitality and diversity of French cinema," says Alliance Française French Film Festival CEO Frédéric Alliod. "We remain deeply committed to championing women on screen and behind the camera, celebrating new talents alongside cinema legends, and offering films that move, surprise and inspire. More than ever, the festival is a celebration of French storytelling in all its richness, openness and emotion, and a platform for intercultural exchange and dialogue with our loyal Australian audiences.”

Opening this year’s festival will be Cédric Klapisch’s acclaimed La Venue De L’avenir (Colours Of Time), a  homage to France’s rich artistic heritage and changing social mores. Starring Suzanne Lindon, Vincent Macaigne, Cécile de France and Paul Kircher, the comedic drama follows the lives of cousins who inherit an old house in rural Normandy and retrace the steps of their ancestors in 19^th century Paris.

Closing the festival is Johann Dionnet’s Avignon (Rodrigue In Love). The must-see romantic comedy is set in the heart of the country's most famous theatre festival, Avignon, and stars Baptiste Lecaplain, Alison Wheeler and Lyès Salem.

This year’s lineup features 10 films directed by female filmmakers and has no shortage of French star power, with icons such as Isabelle Huppert in La Femme La Plus Riche Du Monde (The Richest Woman In The World) and Laure Calamy in Classe Moyenne (The Party’s Over!) and C’est quoi L’amour ? (What is Love?), as well as exciting newcomers like Amélie Bonnin with Partir Un Jour (Leave One Day) and Enya Baroux in On Ira (Bon Voyage, Marie).

Adding to the program’s line-up of powerhouse female filmmakers will be Julia Ducournau’s striking Alpha, Cannes darling La Petite Dernière (The Little Sister) a coming-of-age drama by Hafsia Herzi featuring break-out star Nadia Melliti; Rebecca Zlotowski’s Vie Privée (A Private Life) showcasing the extraordinary Jodie Foster in her first French language leading role; La Tour de Glace (The Ice Tower) directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović and starring Marion Cotillard; and Barbara Schulz’s Le Secret de Khéops (Treasure Hunters: On The Tracks Of Khufu).

Direct from the Croisette will also be Cannes Film Festival stand-outs L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche (The Great Arch), the story of Otto von Spreckelsen, a real-life architecture teacher from Copenhagen who surprised the world when he won an open-call competition to design the Great Arch of La Défense; French coming-of-age drama Enzo; Dossier 137 (Case 137) a crime drama co-written and directed by Dominik Moll, starring Léa Drucker; and Amélie et la Métaphysique Des Tubes (Little Amélie or the Character Of Rain) an animation from filmmakers Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han.

Audiences will travel to Paris and beyond with the return of the Festival’s much-loved showcase screening events including the ‘Centrepiece’ premiere of La Femme La Plus Riche Du Monde (The Richest Woman In The World); ‘Taste of France’ selection La Réparation (Redress) from Oscar winner Régis Wargnier; ‘Classic Movie’, Un Homme et une Femme (A Man and a Woman) a timeless masterpiece directed by Claude Lelouch and starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant; and ‘Ladies Night’ French time-travel comedy showcase C'était Mieux Demain (Cycle Of Time).

These titles and more join the already-announced headliner titles Jean Valjean, L’Étranger (The Stranger), C’est Quoi L’amour? (What Is Love?), Coutures (Couture), Chien 51 (DOG 51) and Classe Moyenne (The Party’s Over!).