Throughout August, the international French-language network TV5 Monde offers a rich lineup of entertaining films, series, and variety shows.

Discover our round-up of the must-see programs this month below.

TV5 Monde

In celebration of the Games which will take place in Paris from July 26 to August 11, 2024, TV5MONDE offers you special programming highlighting Paris and sports:

Comme des garçons – August 1 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

(English ST)

Reims, 1969. Paul Coutard, sports journalist and serial womanizer, provokes his editor into organizing a women’s football match. He is unexpectedly helped by Emmanuelle, the personal assistant, his best enemy in the office. Together they will go down in history by creating the first ever women’s football team!

Director: Julien Hallard (France, 2016)

Cast: Max Boublil, Vanessa Guide, Bruno Lochet, Carole Franck

Genre: Comedy

Awards: Official selection (Alpe d’Huez 2018)

Handball, une histoire de familles — August 1 & 8 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT

(English ST)

Carried by Jackson Richardson then by Nikola Karabatic, French handball left humble anonymity to reach celebrity status in world sport. Over the last forty years, it is the team sport that has achieved better international results than any other throughout history.

Director: Clément Brin (France, 2023)

Genre: Documentary, sport

Laëtitia— August 4 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT; August 12 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT

(English ST)

Two years after becoming the world Thai boxing champion, 28-year-old Laëtitia Lambert prepares for her next fight, however, she’s 12 kilos overweight. Filled with doubts, the single mother spends her life chasing her dreams.

Director: Julie Talon (France, 2015)

Genre: Documentary, sport

Cléo de 5 à 7— August 6 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

Cléo is afraid she might have cancer. With two hours to wait for her test results, she goes outside and wanders around, becoming increasingly anxious. In a park she meets a young soldier, Antoine, set to ship out to Algeria that evening. With him, she finds the comfort she needs…

Director: Agnès Varda (France, 1961)

Cast: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dorothée Blank, Michel Legrand, Serge Korber, Dominique Davray, José-Luis de Villalonga

Genre: Drama

Cause toujours mon lapin— August 8 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

(English ST)

Jackson, a ventriloquist, has been sentenced to twenty years for a murder he didn’t commit. He manages to escape and sets off in search of the witnesses who lied when giving evidence against him at his trial. From one lead to another, he follows the trail to someone called Simon…

Director: Guy Lefranc (France, 1961)

Cast: Eddie Constantine, Claudine Coster, François Chaumette, Marielle Gozzi

Genre: Comedy

Eiffel, la guerre des tours— August 21 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

(English ST)

Behind the emblematic Eiffel Tower lies the story of a French challenge launched at the end of the 19th century: to build a tower a thousand feet high. The project was part of the period’s radical transformation: iron versus stone, engineering versus architecture. We rediscover this race to the heights.

Director: Mathieu Schwartz, Savin Yeatman-Eiffel (France, 2023)

Genre: Documentary, history

Cybathlon 2020— August 30 at 3:00pm ET/12:00pm PT

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

(English ST)

Everyone knows the Paralympic competitions, but the Cybathlon? Launched by Professor Robert Riener, this high-tech sports competition brought together some sixty international teams in Zurich in November 2020, associating disabled athletes and sophisticated bionic systems. An opportunity for Christian Bachmann to follow researchers and athletes during their preparation.

Director: Christian Bachmann (Switzerland, 2020)

Genre: Documentary, sport

Films

Stella est amoureuse—August 11 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

(English ST)

In the 1980s, high-school student Stella spends her first-ever holiday without her parents, who are in the process of separating. Then, back at school, instead of studying, she only cares about going to nightclubs and meeting beautiful boys.

Director: Sylvie Verheyde (France, 2021)

Cast: Flavie Delangle, Marina Foïs, Benjamin Biolay

Genre: Dramedy

Les Cyclades—August 18 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

• As teenagers, Blandine and Magalie were inseparable. When they meet again, several years later, they decide to finally take the trip they’d always dreamed of: to Greece! The only problem is that the two former friends now have very different approaches to life… and holidays!

Director: Marc Fitoussi (France, 2021)

Cast: Laure Calamy, Olivia Côte, Kristin Scott Thomas

Genre: Comedy

Series

5ème rang—Wednesdays, beginning August 7 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT

Season 2 premiere

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

(French ST)

The eldest of five sisters and dedicated heir to the family farm, Marie-Luce’s world turns upside down on the death of her husband Guy, his body found half-eaten body in the pig pen. A dramatic discovery that perturbs the tranquility of those closest to him and everyone living in Valmont.

On the farm, Marie-Luce receives a very mysterious parcel sent by registered mail. Réginald pays a visit to the regional market to spy on Laurent. Nicolas and Sophie want to question Charles, considered a suspect in Laura’s murder.

Marie-Luce suggests to Pascal that he goes into partnership with her. Charles delves deep into his memories. Vincent pays a visit to Paul but things don’t go quite as planned.

Director: Myriam Verreault, Christian Laurence (Canada, 2020)

Cast: Maude Guérin, Martine Francke, Julie Beauchemin, Catherine Renaud, Ève Duranceau

Genre: Drama

Cow-boy urbain—Thursdays, beginning August 22 at 3:00pm ET/12:00pm PT

Season 2 premiere

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

(English ST)

An adventure in six chapters as Steve Jodoin travels the Canadian plains to meet French-speaking ranchers who raise cattle or train rodeo horses.

Steve Jodoin heads off on an adventure with Réal and Julie Jodoin, leaving Bonnyville in Alberta for a 60 km expedition along the Ironhorse Trail, a former railway line. For Steve it’s also a chance to do a little investigating: is he related to the Jodoins of the Canadian West? On the farm, Marie-Luce receives a very mysterious parcel sent by registered mail. Réginald pays a visit to the regional market to spy on Laurent. Nicolas and Sophie want to question Charles, considered a suspect in Laura’s murder.

Director: Marie-France Guerrette (Canada, 2019)

Host: Steve Jodoin

Genre: Docuseries, travel

TV5 Monde Plus

Films

Peur de rien— Streaming beginning August 7

(English ST)

The 90s. Lina, 18, arrives in Paris for her studies. She comes to look for what she never found in Lebanon, her country of origin: a certain form of freedom. The survival instinct as her only baggage, she travels from one Paris to another to the rhythm of her romantic encounters. Because at 18, we dream of embracing the world and not just one boy…

Director: Danielle Arbid (France, 2015)

Cast: Manal Issa, Vincent Lacoste, Paul Hamy

Genre: Drama

Awards: 2017 Lumiere Awards Most Promising Actress Nominee

Solo— Now streaming

(English ST)

Violinist and thief, Vincent Cabral arrives in Le Havre just as his younger brother Virgile, head of a gang of anarchists, cold-bloodedly shoots some twenty people. Wanting to find his brother, Vincent finds himself not only involved in the case but wanted by the police…

Director: Jean-Pierre Mocky (France, 1970)

Cast: Jean-Pierre Mocky, Sylvie Bréal, Anne Deleuze

Genre: Police drama, suspense

Series

Mes chers disparus!— Streaming beginning August 7

(English ST)

Faced with the threat of eviction, Marianne Elbert reluctantly considers selling the family home occupied for five generations.

Director: Stéphane Kappes (Canada, 2014)

Cast: Sophie Le Tellier, Arnaud Lechien, Hubert Saint-Macary

Genre: Dramedy

La vie devant— Now streaming

(English ST)

For one family, each day peacefully follows the last… At least until one of them suffers a stroke, Valeria. Watched by little Lucas, intrigued by these adults constantly asking strange questions, the group will have to ask themselves even more and learn to grow up together.

Director: Kristina Wagenbauer, Klaudia Reynicke (Switzerland, 2022)

Cast: Audrey Dana, Alexis Loret, Remo Girone, Carlos Léal, Solan Harsch, Léon Boesch

Genre: Dramedy

Comme des têtes pas de poule— Now streaming

The five members of the Babin-Bibeau family live in a house in a tranquil neighborhood. A seemingly ordinary family with a gift for turning everyday life upside-down. Two parents and three teenagers, each more creative than the others when it comes to spicing up life for themselves and their friends.

Director: Pierre Théorêt, Yann Tanguay, Sandra Coppola (Canada, 2022)

Cast: Mélanie Pilon, David Savard, Estelle Fournier, Tristan Clouâtre, Élia St-Pierre

Genre: Comedy

TV5 Monde Cinema

Theme: Family and comedy

Terrible jungle— available beginning August 2

(English ST)

A young and naive anthropology researcher goes on an expedition to study the Otopis, a mysterious tribe from the Amazon rainforest.

Director: Hugo Benamozig, David Caviglioli (2020)

Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Dedienne, Alice Belaïdi

Genre: Comedy

Youssef salem a du sucès— available beginning August 2

(English ST)

A middle-aged novelist struggles with his overnight success after publishing a book about his family.

Director: Baya Kasmi (2023)

Cast: Ramzy Bedia, Noémie Lvovsky, Melha Bedia

Genre: Comedy

Ces messieurs de la famille— available beginning August 9

(English ST)

A sales manager is asked to host an important customer but worries his very eccentric family will ruin the relationship.

Director: Raoul André (1968)

Cast: Francis Blanche, Darry Cowl, Jean Poiret

Genre: Comedy

Chic!— available beginning August 9

(English ST)

A diva and designer for a haute couture fashion house, still reeling from a love affair that went badly wrong, is lacking inspiration for the upcoming collections.

Director: Jérôme Cornuau (2015)

Cast: Fanny Ardant, Marina Hands, Éric Elmosnino

Genre: Comedy

Suprêmes— available beginning August 16

(English ST)

This biopic about French hip-hop duo Suprême NTM, tells a story of Paris suburbs, protests, and police brutality that shaped the music of JoeyStarr and Kool Shen. Cannes Out of Competition Official Selection 2022.

Director: Audrey Estrougo (2021)

Cast: Sandor Funtek, Théo Christine, Félix Lefebvre

Genre: Biopic

Cause toujours mon lapin— available beginning August 16

(English ST)

Jackson, convicted of murder, but innocent, escapes as soon as he returns to prison, runs through Paris to find the false witnesses who have cabled him to the trial and extract the truth from them.

Director: Guy Lefranc (1961)

Cast: Eddie Constantine, François Chaumette, Renée Cosima

Genre: Comedy

Sympathie pour le diable— available beginning August 23

(English ST)

As war is raging in what will become ex-Yugoslavia, a provocative, cigar-smoking war correspondent covers the siege of Sarajevo.

Director: Guillaume De Fontenay (2019)

Cast: Niels Schneider, Ella Rumpf, Vincent Rottiers

Genre: Drama

Le processus de paix— available beginning August 23

(English ST)

Despite being deeply in love, a couple just can’t stop arguing with one another.

Director: Ilan Klipper (2023)

Cast: Camille Chamoux, Damien Bonnard, Jeanne Balibar

Genre: Comedy

Un coup de maître— available beginning August 30

(English ST)

A painter having an existential crisis leans on his longtime, art gallery owner friend for support.

Director: Rémi Bezançon (2023)

Cast: Vincent Macaigne, Bouli Lanners, Bastien Ughetto

Genre: Comedy

La voie royale— available beginning August 30

(English ST)

Encouraged by her math teacher, a brilliant student leaves the family farm to attend a preparatory science class.

Director: Frédéric Mermoud (2023)

Cast: Suzanne Jouannet, Marie Colomb, Maud Wyler

Genre: Drama