International Film Festival French Films
27th August to 9th September @ Luxe Tauranga
For details & Screening Times : https://www.luxecinemas.nz/tauranga/nziff-2026
Lots of great movies in lots of langauges
Plus , of course, some French ones.
De la Comédie Française – Comédie Française
Filmed at the prestigious Comédie-Française theatre and using actual members of the troupe, the feature got its original start as an attempted series of skits during the pandemic era. We’re taken behind the scenes to experience the journey of Nina (Pauline Clément), an experienced actress who is taking a turn in the director’s chair to stage a performance of Macbeth. Unfortunately for Nina, the play is cursed from the outset and everything that could go wrong, does. Malfunctioning props, intoxicated actors, infidelity, clashing egos, absent cast members, overzealous security staff and even parental mishaps all clash in the frantic three hours before the play begins. But as the old saying goes “the show must go on” and Nina must battle fate and hold everything together in order to deliver a performance that is still worthy of the famed theatre institute. The title directly translates to “French Comedy” and the film certainly lives up to its moniker. An uproarious, gag-filled farce that is a gleeful parody of theatre antics and a much needed piece of joyous escapism. -Jordan Saloman
Dans trois heures, Nina dévoile sa première mise en scène à la Comédie-Française. Mais dans l’agitation des dernières répétitions, rien ne se passe comme prévu : retards, coups de stress, problèmes techniques et problèmes d’égo secouent la troupe. Pourtant, Nina n’a pas d’autre choix que d’aller jusqu’au bout, car s’il y a bien une règle d’or à la Comédie-Française, c’est qu’on n’annule pas. Commence alors une course contre-la-montre pour sauver la représentation
Le Chant des forêts – Whispers in the Woods
In the forests of Vosges in Eastern France, the home of bears, deer, owls, lynxes and a cavalcade of other creatures, famed wildlife photographer Vincent Munier returns to capture the magic of this untouched natural world as only he can. It was in these forests that he would often come with his father, and on this trip, he brings his son to pass on the importance of protecting this ecosystem.
Following up his acclaimed 2021 feature, Velvet Queen, which focused on the elusive Tibetan Snow Leopard, Whispers in the Woods explores the connection between man and nature, weaving in stories passed down through generations with breathtaking footage of the animal kingdom that moves effortlessly between the humorous and playful to the majestic and ethereal.
Vincent Munier nous invite au cœur des forêts des Vosges. C’est ici qu’il a tout appris grâce à son père Michel, naturaliste, ayant passé sa vie à l’affut dans les bois. Il est l’heure pour eux de transmettre ce savoir à Simon, le fils de Vincent.
Adieu Monde Cruel – Goodbye Cruel World
After skipping school and setting his pet rodent free in the woods outside his town of Lisieux, Normandy, Otto jumps from a high bridge into the river below. The backpack that was presumably meant to help him drown is quickly separated from him, and instead of continuing with his death wish, the poor, drenched lad gets back up at the rocky shore, contemplating his next move.
While walking her dog, Lena spots Otto on one of his nightly bin raids for food, tracking him to the abandoned house with barely working facilities. This friendship between two lonely youngsters gradually blossoms into a romance; their plan to hide out inevitably turns into one in which they both escape across the country, never revealing the truth behind Otto’s disappearance.
Goodbye Cruel World is a remarkably assured debut feature overall, ending on an especially beautiful note both visually and aurally — composer Arnaud Toulo’s melodies
are a consistent highlight of the film’s texture. Director Felix de Givry shows great promise as a maker of intimate, humanist works, where troubled souls are swept along by the currents of time as they try to make sense of themselves and their world. – Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire
Otto Vidal, 14 ans, a disparu après avoir adressé une lettre d’adieu aux élèves de sa classe. Alors que tout le monde le croit mort, Léna, une fille de son lycée, le reconnaît une nuit en train d’errer dans les rues de la ville.
Trailer : https://vimeo.com/1217648436
Two children’s movies but I think they are being shown in English
Arco
In 2075, a girl witnesses a mysterious boy in a rainbow suit fall from the sky. He comes from an idyllic far future where time travel is possible. She shelters him and will do whatever it takes to help him return to his time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-S-XRsQxCM
En 2075, une petite fille de 10 ans, Iris, voit un mystérieux garçon vêtu d’une combinaison arc-en-ciel tomber du ciel. C’est Arco. Il vient d’un futur lointain et idyllique où voyager dans le temps est possible. Iris le recueille et va l’aider par tous les moyens à rentrer chez lui. De la Comédie Française
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGryToruSuA
Amélie et la Métaphysique des tubes –
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
A nominee for Best Animated Feature at the 2026 Academy Awards, the film opens with Amélie, a young Belgian girl living in Japan in the late 1960s. She isn’t exactly enamoured with the world so far… that is, until her grandmother rouses in Amélie a lust for life’s pleasures through the exquisite delight of white chocolate. Emerging from a vegetative state, Amélie forms a close bond with her family’s housekeeper, Nishio-san, who provides Amélie with an intergenerational, multicultural appreciation of existing in the moment. However, Amélie quickly learns that life is not without its tribulations – her brother is nothing but a menace, and her family’s landlady detests her Western tenants due to allied bombings during the war.
