Five Official International Oscar Entries and Major Film and Series Premieres Lead a 60-Title Program Celebrating French Cinema and Television
November 3–8, 2026, at the Directors Guild of America Theater Complex in Hollywood
The American French Film Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a program of 60 films and series at the Directors Guild of America Theater Complex in Hollywood from November 3 through 8, 2026. Announced by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, the lineup brings together 31 fiction features, 11 television series, four documentaries and 14 short films, with 58 titles competing for festival awards.
The six-day event will showcase French cinema alongside international French co-productions, combining established filmmakers, emerging talent and numerous North American and U.S. premieres. Winners will be announced during the closing ceremony on November 8.
Among the festival’s announced highlights are five French productions or co-productions selected by their respective countries as submissions for the 2027 Academy Awards’ international feature film category. They include France’s Minotaur, written and directed by Andrey Zviagintsev; Japan’s All of a Sudden, from Ryūsuke Hamaguchi; Belgium’s Coward, directed by Lucas Dhont; Romania’s Fjord, from Cristian Mungiu; and Morocco’s Strawberries, directed by Laïla Marrakchi.
According to the festival announcement, Zviagintsev will attend the presentation of Minotaur, which is being screened in association with MUBI. The program also identifies Fjord as the winner of the 2026 Cannes Palme d’Or.
Other prominent screenings include the first U.S. presentation of Antonin Baudry’s De Gaulle, starring Simon Abkarian as the French leader. Baudry and Abkarian are scheduled to attend a back-to-back marathon presentation on Saturday, November 7, presented in association with Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Marc Fitoussi’s comedy All About Corinne, featuring Isabelle Huppert, will receive its U.S. premiere on November 6. Guillaume Canet’s psychological thriller Karma, starring Marion Cotillard, will make its North American premiere on November 4 in association with Pathé Films.
Stéphane Brizé’s A Good Little Soldier, described in the announcement as a Venice official selection and screenplay award winner, will have its West Coast premiere on November 7. Alexandre Smia’s feature directing debut, the political thriller Jupiter, will screen on November 8 ahead of its release in France.
The festival will open with the Los Angeles premiere of Phuong Mai Nguyen’s animated feature In Waves, presented in association with Netflix. French animation will also be represented by Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy, presented with Sony Pictures Classics, and Blaise, directed by Dimitri Planchon and Jean-Paul Gigne, along with four animated shorts.
Television highlights include the U.S. premieres of R91, A Prophet and Alice: Pioneer of Cinema, as well as the international premiere of One Day We Will Make Love.
Comedy runs throughout the selection, with 14 titles across the feature, series and short-film competitions. Among them is Just an Illusion, the new film from The Intouchables filmmakers Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, featuring Call My Agent! star Camille Cottin. Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine’s The Better Me features Laurent Laffitte in a dual role.
Closing night will feature Anthony Marciano’s The American Dream, a comedy-drama inspired by French basketball agents Bouna Ndiaye and Jérémy Medjana. Starring Jean-Pascal Zadi and Raphaël Quenard, the film follows the agents whose clients have included Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum. Guests connected to the film and its real-life story are expected to attend.
Deputy Director Anouchka van Riel described this year’s selection as “a cinema of resistance,” connecting films about corporate power, inequality and public pressure with stories about illness, friendship and responsibility.
“Between those who fight and those who care, the lineup returns to one question: at a time when intelligence is becoming artificial, what remains human?” van Riel said.
The festival’s educational program will extend those themes to younger audiences. Now in its 18th year, the High School Program is expected to welcome 3,000 students from 60 schools for free screenings and question-and-answer sessions, including students from two public schools traveling from Utah. Organizers say the program has served more than 43,000 students to date.
Executive Producer and Programmer François Truffart, who has held the role since 2004, emphasized the festival’s support for filmmakers from their earliest shorts through international recognition, as well as its commitment to television and female filmmakers.
Organizers report that 24 selections arrive after premieres at major international festivals, including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Locarno and Toronto. Nineteen films and series will screen before their release in France, while 18 will be presented in association with U.S. distributors.
The Cannes contingent includes Pierre Salvadori’s The Electric Kiss, Marie Kreuzer’s Gentle Monster, Bertrand Mandico’s Roma Elastica, Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s A Woman’s Life and Vincent Garencq’s Forsaken. Seven films will compete for Best First Feature, with selections including A Girl Unknown, Congo Boy, La Gradiva, Madame and A Place for Her.
Audience members will vote in the cinema, television and short-film categories. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association will participate in the Critics’ Award and First Feature Award, while a student jury will select the American Students Award. Separate professional juries will judge series and short films.
Advance ticket sales were scheduled to begin October 8, with online purchasing and applicable reservations available until the night before each screening. Tickets will also be sold at the DGA Theater Complex, located at 7920 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. For sold-out screenings, additional seats may become available 20 minutes before showtime.
Series screenings are free on a first-come, first-served basis, except for Sunday screenings in the Truffaut theater, which require an RSVP. Complimentary tickets are available to DGA, WGAW and SAG-AFTRA members and one guest. Selected professional panels from Wednesday through Saturday will also be free, followed by complimentary wine and cheese receptions.
All films will be presented in English or with English subtitles. The festival is produced by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a collaboration among the DGA, Motion Picture Association, SACEM and WGA West, in association with France’s CNC.
Featured Image: In Waves
