On Screen This Week
Films at Luxe Cinemas :
Tauranga & Papamoa
Return of French Festival Films
Venue : Luxe Cinemas Tauranga and Papamoa
De Gaulle: Liberté (Part two) from September 10th
Morning and evening sessions daily at Luxe Cinema Tauranga
June 1940. France collapses and signs the Armistice. In the midst of the chaos, one man, Charles de Gaulle, refuses to give up. Taking the ultimate gamble he flees to London and seeks to convince the world that the battle for France is neither over or lost. What follows next is a triumphant story of faith, audacity and an unshakeable quest for freedom. Antonin Baudry has crafted a powerful and dramatic view of a man at the very centre of a turning point in history, on his path to becoming a 20th century leader and cultural icon. The reality of intense politics, family struggles and the impact of war are deftly drawn in this geopolitical thriller, which has been more than five years in the making.
The Colours of Time / La Venue de L’Avenir
Four distant cousins are part of a wider family group which can be traced to the last occupant of a house in rural Normandy abandoned in 1944. Seb, Abdel, Céline and Guy, discover there the existence of Adèle Vermillard, their ancestor who in 1895 aged 20 left her native Normandy for Paris in search of her mother. While exploring the house, left untouched since the 1940s, they excavate the life of their ancestor – photos and paintings from the end of the 19th century are preserved in the house, along with letters to Adèle which help them form a picture of her story.
Une trentaine de personnes issues d’une même famille apprennent qu’ils vont recevoir en héritage une maison abandonnée depuis des années. Quatre de ces cousins lointains sont chargés d’en faire l’état des lieux. Ils vont alors découvrir des trésors cachés et se retrouver sur les traces d’une mystérieuse Adèle, qui a quitté sa Normandie natale pour la capitale, en 1895.
Trailer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FUx_QApVDw&t=7s
Date: Still screening in September :
Thursday 10th at 12.30pm
Sunday 13th at 10.20am
Venue : Luxe Cinemas Papamoa
Association Francaise Tauranga Ciné Club
Date: Monday September 21. Films start at 6pm.
Venue : Luxe Cinema Tauranga
The 2026 collection of short films is composed of :
– L’Arbre à Canettes / The Cans Tree par Odile Dufant
– Le Cadeau / The Gift par Nicolas Parent
– Notre Histoire / Our Story par Vincent Lépine (clip musical)
– Paramnesia par Alex Sigura
– Pour Marie / For Marie par Olivier Gresse
– La Tête Tournée / Turned Head par Fabien Dubedout & Erwann Bournet
The total duration of the evening is one hour 30-45 minutes which includes the short films plus interviews with the directors.
Trailer : https://www.youtube.com/@acpf.fiction/
For info about what is coming up and how to join the association, go to Association Francaise Tauranga
Art Junction Katikati :
Resistence :
The story of mime Marcel Marceau as he works with a group of Jewish boy scouts and the French Resistance to save the lives of ten thousand orphans during World War II.
When: Monday 21st September 2026
Where : The Art Junction, Katikati
Cost : $10
Book : https://www.theartsjunction.org.nz/buy-tickets-online
DVDs to Lend Out
I have approximately 120 French DVDs that anyone who is still able to view DVDs is most welcome to borrow. There are comedies and dramas, recent and older films, famous actors and less famous. All are subtitled in English.
Let me know if you don’t have, but would like, the catalogue and then make your choice.
shelley@lovefrench.nz or ph 07 578 9416. No charge.
Au petit écran – on the Small Screen
TV NZ OnDemand : has a number of French movies in their Foreign Language section including Voltaire and The Paris Murders:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/categories/foreign-languageVoltaire in Love
Voltaire in Love & The Paris Murders on TV NZ On Demand Now
Voltaire : Contre l’intolérance, l’homme qui ne voulait pas se taire.
This portrait of a young man shaped by exile and personal tragedy explores the experiences that forged one of history’s most influential philosophers.
The Paris Murders :
Gifted with razor-sharp intuition, a police profiler teams up with a savvy homicide detective to crack the toughest of cases.
Netflix :
L’été 36 : French 6-part series
Nice, 1936. The elite vacationing on the Côte d’Azur are disturbed by workers enjoying their first paid holidays. Four women from different classes become entangled in a murder at the luxurious Riviera Hotel. 9/10 Recommended -especially if you watch it in French with English subtitles first, and then in French with French subtitles.
Durant l’été 1936, pour la première fois de leur vie, des salariés, profitant des congés payés, débarquent sur la Côte d’Azur. Ils vont côtoyer les classes bourgeoises et, au milieu de cela, quatre femmes de milieux différents vont être liées à un meurtre survenu dans l’hôtel de luxe Riviera.
Trailer : https://www.netflix.com/title/82049215
Library Movie Streaming:
All you need is a Tauranga City library card and the internet and you will be able to access over a thousand films and documentaries via Beamafilm, or classical music, concerts, ballets ,documentaries, artist portraits and education programmes via Medici TV. All access is free.
For more info: https://library.tauranga.govt.nz/digital-library/streaming
PS: The library also has real books and, in particular, a French novel section.
TV NZ OnDemand : has a number of French movies in their Foreign Language section:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/categories/foreign-language
Maori Channel : Keep an eye out for their Sunday evening films that are usually repeated at noon on the Monday. They frequently show foreign films and often French ones.
https://www.maoriplus.co.nz/
