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Festival coverage

French Film Festival

1 November – 15 December 2019

The 27th edition of the French Film Festival UK runs 1 November to 15 December. Films will include Céline Sciamma’s Portrait Of A Lady On Fire.

Other years (19)

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Latest reviews

  • Joan Of Arc
    Review preview for Joan Of Arc

    The whole film adheres to the director’s credo that simple story-telling does not mean a lack of depth or subtlety, or roughness around the edges.

    Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
    A sequel to The Childhood Of Joan Of Arc.
  • I Lost My Body
    Review preview for I Lost My Body

    The fingerprints left behind by us an upon us as we go through life are considered by Jérémy Clapin's animated feature debut.

    Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
    A cut-off hand escapes from a dissection lab with one crucial goal: to get back to its body. As it scrambles through the pitfalls of Paris, it remembers its life with the young man it was once attached to… until they met Gabrielle.
  • By The Grace Of God
    Review preview for By The Grace Of God

    Ozon does not smooth over the rough edges and the icy roads stay icy.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4.5 out of 5
    When Alexandre learns that the priest who abused him as a boy is still working with children, he and other victims take action against the perpetrator.
  • Oh Mercy!
    Review preview for Oh Mercy!

    Based on Mosco Boucault’s documentary Roubaix, Commissariat Central, and using the actual interrogation transcripts, Desplechin shoots for a different tone.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    A police chief in northern France tries to solve a case where an old woman was brutally murdered.
  • Dilili In Paris
    Review preview for Dilili In Paris

    Michel Ocelot's combination of live film, photo-realistic images and animation brings out the magic of Paris as if were being seen for the first time.

    Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
    With the help of her friend, a delivery boy, young Dilili from New Caledonia investigates a spate of mysterious kidnappings of young girls that is plaguing the Paris of the Belle Epoque.
  • Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
    Review preview for Portrait Of A Lady On Fire

    What could have been a traditionally lavish costume drama has been pared down to highlight the erotic tension and sensuality

    Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
    On an isolated island in Bretagne at the end of the 18th century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
  • On A Magical Night
    Review preview for On A Magical Night

    Deliciously and deliberately theatrical

    Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
    After 20 years of marriage, Maria decides to leave her husband. She moves into room 212 at the hotel across the street, with a bird’s-eye view of her apartment, her husband and the life she shared with him.
  • Young Ahmed
    Review preview for Young Ahmed

    Their provision of few motivational details makes for an unsatisfactory narrative.

    Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
    A teenager becomes radicalised.
  • The Swallows Of Kabul
    Review preview for The Swallows Of Kabul

    Visually arresting and emotionally engaging.

    Richard Mowe · 3 out of 5
    Summer 1998 - Kabul under Taliban rule. Zunaira and Mohsen are young and in love. Despite the daily violence and misery, they hope for a better future. One day, a foolish gesture causes life to take an irrevocable turn.
  • Amanda
    Review preview for Amanda

    We cry with Amanda and David and when the sun comes through again, their smiles are like a gift.

    Anne-Katrin Titze · 4 out of 5
    A man assumes a new responsibility for his niece as a potential guardian.

A–Z of French Film Festival 2019 reviews

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