A cinematic celebration _{by Alessia Belsito-Riera}

Le French Film Festival Aotearoa c’est magnifique! Celebrating its 19^th year during the 80^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and New Zealand, 2025’s cinematic celebration features 23 hand-selected films showcasing everything from epic blockbusters and Festival de Cannes favourites to dramas, romances, and quirky comedies.

“The selection brilliantly demonstrates the depth, quality, and diversity of contemporary French cinema,” Ambassador of France Laurence Beau says. “I invite you to immerse yourself in this festival, which is a vibrant cultural bridge between France and New Zealand.”

Running from the 4^th to the 29^th of June across several venues, the opening night film at The Embassy is Monsieur Aznavour, a biographical drama about the iconic singer and devoted artist Charles Aznavour.

This year’s centrepiece films include Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, the story of a desperately single bookseller, lost in a fantasy world, who finds herself forced to fulfil her dreams of becoming a writer in order to stop messing up her love life; and The Count of Monte Cristo, an adaptation of the famous Alexandre Dumas novel that follows Edmond Dantes, who becomes the target of a sinister plot and is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he did not commit.

The programme also features a special Cannes Spotlight, showcasing films that won big at the prestigious film festival. My Brother’s Band follows two very different siblings separated by fate and reunited by their love of music. In The Thread, disillusioned lawyer Jean Monier is appointed to defend a man accused of murdering his wife. Clotaire falls for his schoolmate Jackie in Beating Hearts, a story wracked by gang violence. In the award-winning Holy Cow, a young man must enter a local cheese-making competition to support his family.

The Twists and Turns category presents four titles full of thrill and tall tales. In How to Make a Killing, Michael and Cathy witness a triple murder and end up with two million euro and a pistol. The French Job depicts a madcap imagining of what may have happened to actually stolen artworks. Michelle, a retiree in Burgundy, expects her grandson Lucas but a mistake ruins her plans in When Fall is Coming. Saint-Ex explores the true story of the author behind the French classic The Little Prince.

In L’amour and Laughter, audiences will encounter romance and crazy capers aplenty with All Stirred Up!, Riviera Revenge, The Scammers, This Life of Mine, The Love Boat, and Family Therapy. While for those who are Très Dramatique, there are six dramas to delve into: The Stolen Painting, Boléro, The Divine Sarah Bernhardt, Three Friends, The Deluge, and Miss Violet.

The 2025 festival also celebrates its owner Simon Werry’s recently awarded title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, which recognises his significant contribution to the development of arts, music, and literature.

Celebrate the joie de vivre at the 2025 French Film Festival Aotearoa.