American French Film Festival Unveils 30th Edition Lineup — SkimNews
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- The American French Film Festival unveils its 30th-anniversary edition featuring 60 French films and series in Los Angeles from Nov. 3–8, including 58 titles competing for awards.
- France submits Andrey Zvyagintsev’s 'Minotaur' as its Oscar contender, while four other French co-productions—'All of a Sudden' (Japan), 'Coward' (Belgium), 'Fjord' (Romania), and 'Strawberries' (Morocco)—also enter the international feature race.
- Netflix partners on the opening-night film 'In Waves,' an animated feature by Phuong Mai Nguyen, highlighting the festival’s growing ties with global streaming platforms.
- Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Camille Cottin star in new films screening at the festival, many arriving directly from Cannes, Venice, and Toronto.
- Antonin Baudry brings his two-part biopic 'De Gaulle,' starring Simon Abkarian, for its first U.S. screening, with a marathon event scheduled for Nov. 7 ahead of a U.S. release by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
- Anouchka van Riel frames the festival’s theme as 'a cinema of resistance,' emphasizing stories where characters confront corporate systems, online mobs, and labor exploitation.
Why it matters: By aligning with the fall awards season and showcasing 19 films before their French release, the festival strengthens its role as a strategic launchpad for French cinema in North America, giving U.S. distributors, guilds, and audiences early access to potential Oscar players and auteur-driven co-productions.
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