Icons and rising stars collide as the Alliance Française French Film Festival transforms Australian cinemas into a window onto modern France.
Experience French Cinema at its finest at the Alliance Française French Film Festival (AFFFF), opened on Wednesday, March 4, and running until early April, a perfect prelude to autumn’s picturesque days and cosy cinema nights.
This past week I was fortunate enough to watch four of the program’s best for their impressive 37th year, witnessing established icons and the rising stars of France’s remarquable film industry.
Melbourne – Alliance Française French Film Festival
- Where: Palace Cinemas Melbourne + more venues
- When: 4 March – 8 April (nationwide 3 March – 26 April)
- Tickets: here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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The Ice Tower (La Tour de glace) dir. Lucile Hadzihalilovic
This film follows the adolescent Jeanne, an orphan who has run away from home, longing for escape and fantasy in equal measure. Here she flees to a remote, snow-covered mountain town, where (by luck or by fate) she stumbles upon a production crew filming a movie adaptation of her favourite story. Jeanne becomes enamoured with the enigmatic lead actress, Christina, a fascination that compels her to infiltrate the set. However, she soon discovers that there’s no business-like show business, and Hollywood can quickly transform into a cold, unforgiving world. With director Lucile Hadzihalilovic and the amazing Marion Cotillard (Christina) always a formidable force, the duo’s signature blend of surrealism and emotional intensity certainly didn’t disappoint. Bolstered by dazzling cinematography and a swelling, ethereal score, this movie-within-a-movie, dream-within-a-dream is not one to miss.
A Dash of Love (Une pointe d’amour) dir. Maël Piriou
Mélanie is a driven and accomplished lawyer; however, she is getting overwhelmed by the weight of her terminal and degenerative illness. Though it would be easier to surrender in despair, counting down the days until another appointment at the hospital, Mélanie instead transforms her nihilism into defiant joy, resolving to live her remaining days to the absolute fullest. Starting with a spontaneous and titillating road trip to Spain, Mélanie invites her childhood friend Benjamin and client Lucas, and together they set out on a journey of highway adventures, rediscovered passions and a sentimental beginning to their thirties. A Dash of Love is a warm meditation on how no feeling is final, and to never give anyone or anything else control of your own life.
Out of Love (Les enfants vont bien) dir. Nathan Ambrosioni
After two years of minimal contact, widowed Suzanne and her two children arrive unannounced on her sister Jeanne’s doorstep, with the latter caught off guard and looking for the motivation as to why. The next morning, Suzanne is gone, with a goodbye note left in her wake and her children left behind. Thrown into motherhood and expected only to wait as the police offer no help, Jeanne is flung into a role she never anticipated playing, with the only choice being to move forward for the sake of her niece and nephew. This intimate drama by Nathan Ambrosioni marks an impressive and beautifully crafted third feature film from the writer-director. Out of Love is a poignant exploration of loss and reconstruction, offering nuanced perspectives on maternity and sisterhood, and the resilient ways families are formed and redefined in the face of unexpected adversity.
My Most Anticipated Festival Watches:
There is something special about being part of a festival audience; the collective identity and shared emotional engagement are truly unique feelings. So, here are the two films I’m most eager to see live in theatres during AFFFF, films that I think will bring audiences together in a truly memorable way.
The Stranger (L’Étranger) dir. François Ozon
As a grand Albert Camus fan, I was ecstatic in hearing there was a film adaptation of The Stranger, tackled by one of Frances most cardinal, modern and New Wave filmmakers no less. François Ozon certainly relishes a literary challenge in rich aesthetic material, but he crafts his films with such detail and elegance that they invite lively discussions, particularly for those wishing to engage in cinema du corps (cinema of the body) and important political debates. I also heard down the grape vine, it is said to be a film very faithful to the source material, a welcome change for those literary purists who have been disappointed of other book adaptations as of late!
The Little Sister (La petite dernière) dir. Hafsia Herzi
Fresh from two wins at Cannes Film Festival, including Best Performance by an Actress, Hafsia Herzi’s coming-of-age film The Little Sister is set to be a special event for Australian audiences attending AFFFF. An important and deeply relative story about freedoms clashing with family tradition and faith, it is said to inspire those who are brave and striving to forge their own path.
For more information, head here.
The Alliance Française French Film Festival is in cinemas around Australia on various dates until 8 April 2026.
