Join us for the 29th Annual Festival of Films in French which showcases stories of resistance, artistic expression, justice, and freedom.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s festival will take us from Paris to the Jura, Strasbourg, Ukraine, Quebec, Cambodia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In \u201cTerrorists\u201d in Retirement<\/em>, surviving members of the French Resistance recount and reenact their operations undertaken during the Nazi occupation of Paris, challenging persistent myths and the erasure of their legacy. In Kyiv Theater, an Island of Hope<\/em>, Ariane Mouchkine uses theater as a bold act of cultural defiance, bringing together hundreds of Ukrainian actors. Of Mud and Blood<\/em> follows miners and local communities in rural DRC as they fight for environmental and social justice, while Ghost Trail<\/em> traces the path of a Syrian refugee navigating the fine line between justice and revenge. For Jean-Luc Godard (Godard Cinema<\/em>), resistance takes the form of pushing artistic and political boundaries through film. And in Meeting with Pol Pot<\/em>, journalists pursue truth in the face of the Khmer Rouge\u2019s propaganda and intimidation. Other films highlight the evolution of French artistic innovation, from Impressionism and the avant-garde in the 19th century (Colors of Time)<\/em>, to the intertwining of the arts in the 1920s silent film era (Princess Mandane)<\/em>, to the Nouvelle Vague (Godard Cinema)<\/em>, and French theater (Kyiv Theater)<\/em>. Together, these works illuminate the cultural figures and movements that have shaped France\u2019s artistic landscape. This year\u2019s selection also features stories of young characters discovering the importance of tradition, culture, and family. Dounia reconnects with her Syrian heritage while embracing her friends\u2019 French-Canadian and Indigenous cultures in Dounia, The Great White North,<\/em> and Totone seeks to preserve his family\u2019s way of life by learning the craft of cheesemaking in Holy Cow<\/em>.<\/p>\n Come in from the cold for six days of thought-provoking films, and travel across space and time to witness stories of resilience, freedom, creativity and friendship.<\/p>\n