On Screen This February: Film & TV in New York

A magical and beautifully animated journey through time, Arco is a dazzling adventure about a 10-year-old boy from a peaceful, distant future who accidentally travels to the year 2075 and discovers a world in peril. As Arco develops a charming and touching friendship with a young girl named Iris, they band together and along with her trusted robot caretaker Mikki, set out on a quest to get Arco home, while the two children may also be the only ones who can save our planet.  A wondrous odyssey filled with hope and optimism for our future, Arco is an enchanting fable from breakout filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu, produced by Remembers’ Bienvenu and Felix de Givry, and mountainA’s Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas. The film debuted at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and won The Cristal Award for Best Feature Film at the 2025 Annecy Awards.

Don’t miss the Q&A with the movie director Ugo Bienvenu on February 5 at 7:30pm during the Animation First Festival!

Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. He arrives in Recife during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son but soon realizes that the city is far from being a non-violent refuge. The film premiered in the main competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it garnered widespread acclaim and emerged as the festival’s most awarded film, earning Wagner Moura the Best Actor award and Mendonça Filho the Best Director award.

Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, is suddenly reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man he strongly suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, Vahid rounds up a few of his fellow ex-prisoners to try and confirm Eghbal’s identity.  Master filmmaker Jafar Panahi creates a deeply felt moral thriller, where high stakes tension combines with unexpected flurries of humor and thoughtful, sometimes devastating, questions regarding persecution and revenge. Winner of the 2025 Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

A five-year-old girl, Hind Rajab, is the sole survivor trapped in a car under heavy Israeli military fire in Gaza. Her emergency calls reach the volunteers of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, who desperately attempt to calm and rescue her—the latter obstructed by IDF checkpoints and the unlikelihood of safe passage. In The Voice of Hind Rajab, Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania blends the actual phone recordings—which went viral several weeks after this incident—with dramatizations of the emergency workers racing against time, and the situation’s emotional impact, to coordinate paramedics who could save her. By focusing on one life—and the lives of volunteers who risk their lives to save civilians—Ben Hania brings humanity and urgency to a war that has killed or caused the deaths of over 70,000, per a recent UN estimate.

A Private Life is a frisky, feminine, film noir about psychoanalysis and many other things…Renowned psychiatrist Lilian Steiner (Jodie Foster) is deeply troubled by the sudden death of one of her patients. Convinced that it was murder, she decides to investigate.

A father (Sergi López) and his son arrive at a rave deep in the mountains of southern Morocco. They are searching for Mar — daughter and sister — who vanished months ago at one of these endless, sleepless parties. Surrounded by electronic music and a raw, unfamiliar sense of freedom, they hand out her photo again and again. Hope is fading, but they push through and follow a group of ravers heading to one last party in the desert. As they venture deeper into the burning wilderness, the journey forces them to confront their own limits.

Animation First returns to NYC from its 9th edition, considered as the biggest animation festival in the United States! It will present six feature-length films and eight short film programs, with a special focus on Belgian animation, including classics and new films.

This year, the festival presents one North American, three U.S, and two New York premieres of feature films. Over a dozen international filmmakers and professionals join us for captivating talks, a First Look presentation, and Q&A discussions. Back by popular demand, Animation Speak/Easy joins L’Alliance for the third year in a row, as does our juried competition for new Francophone shorts.

With films for adults, teens, and kids, the festival is designed to engage and entertain audiences of all ages throughout nearly a week of programming.

The New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) returns to New York from February 28 to March 15, presenting one of the most dynamic and Oscar-qualifying lineups of the year for young audiences aged 3–18 and beyond, with approximately 100 short and feature films from around the world, special events, and filmmaker Q&As celebrating diversity, imagination, and storytelling through cinema.

The festival will feature world and North American premieres, as well as French international short films such as My Life in Versailles and Sketches on Ice.

From March 5–15, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema takes over Film at Lincoln Center with an ambitious lineup of contemporary French films, including New York and U.S. premieres, celebrated auteurs, and exciting new talents redefining French cinema today.

From February 20–March 1, Film at Lincoln Center presents Raymond Depardon: Humanity in Focus — A tribute to one of the most towering figures in nonfiction cinema, this expansive retrospective features a selection of newly restored and remastered copies of his signature films.

See films that cover a wide range of topics:

• Caught in the Acts: In one of his signature and most mesmerizing films, Raymond Depardon follows 14 suspects of various crimes who must meet with public prosecutors in order to be reminded of their rights and to hear whether they’ll be prosecuted for their charges. Saturday, February 21 at 8:30pm and Sunday, March 1 at 8:00pm

• Paris: Perhaps Raymond Depardon’s most self-reflexive and metacinematic work, this fascinating fiction film follows a filmmaker who, short on ideas for his new film, enlists a casting director to help him find a leading lady on the streets of Paris. Sunday, February 22 at 8:30pm

• Untouched by the West: Depardon melds fiction and documentary to striking effect in this pictorially dazzling account of a nomadic orphan who must take a stand against white colonizers who would seize his tribe’s land. Friday, February 27 at 8:15pm

Tickets are currently available for the General Public, $18 and Students $15. By using the code 12DAYS in the promo code box at checkout, you can enjoy a discount of $5 on your ticket purchase!

Maison Française at Columbia University will host screenings of one French production:

• Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Persepolis, on February 12, which tells the story of Marji, who grows up in an upper-middle class family against the backdrop of the 1979 Iranian Revolution against the Shah of Iran. After the deposition of the Shah, Marji’s life as a pre-teen is heavily influenced by the rule of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran. Headstrong, curious, and rebellious as many pre-teens can be, Marjane finds ways to express herself. She buys heavy metal cassettes on the street, wears band tees and headbangs in the safety of her bedroom. Fearing for her safety in Iran as the Iran-Iraq war breaks out, Marji’s parents send her off to Europe where she experiences young adulthood, heartbreak, mental health struggles and questioning her identity while being away from home.
• Sofia Alaoui’s Animalia, which tells the story of Itto, a young woman from a modest rural background, is slowly adapting to the Moroccan privileged codes of her husband’s family. But when supernatural events put the country in a state of emergency, Itto finds herself separated from her husband and new family. Alone, pregnant and looking for her way back, she finds emancipation.

This event is free and open to the public, but please note that registration does not guarantee a seat (first come, first served).

Maison Française at NYU will host screenings of two French productions, made possible with Albertine Cinémathèque:

• On February 21, Maison Française will host The Animal Kingdom, an incredibly inventive sci-fi fantasy film from 2023. The film depicts an adventure between a father and his son, in a world where some humans have started mutating into other animal species.
• On February 25, Maison Française will host Le Tableau Volé. André Masson, an auctioneer at Scottie’s, receives a letter from a lawyer claiming that a common worker in the suburbs of Mulhouse owns a painting by Egon Schiele. André’s first reaction is to believe that it can only be a fake. He decides to make the trip to Mulhouse anyway and against all odds, the painting turns out to be a masterpiece gone missing in 1939. This could undoubtedly be the turning point of his career, but after a brief investigation, he realizes that he has in his hands a looted work of art.

As part of the French Cinémathèque series, Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman will be presented durin a special screening.

Following the death of her grandmother, eight-year-old Nelly explores the house where her mother grew up. One day, in the nearby woods, she meets another girl her age who looks strikingly familiar. Through this delicate and magical encounter, Petite Maman unfolds as a tender exploration of childhood, memory, grief, and the bonds between mothers and daughters.

Participants are invited to join us for this screening celebrating one of the most acclaimed contemporary French filmmakers, whose work is known for its emotional precision and quiet, poetic storytelling.

L’Alliance Française New York presents “Chabrol! Suspense! Restored!,” a retrospective of seven newly restored French films by French New Wave master Claude Chabrol, running from January 13 to February 24 at the Florence Gould Theater. The lineup features The Does, The Unfaithful Wife, This Man Must Die, The Butcher, The Breach, Just Before Nightfall, Wedding in Blood, offering a compelling look at Chabrol’s signature psychological thrillers and incisive portraits of bourgeois society.

The Alliance Française presents Focus on French Cinema, which offers several films online from January to May, in addition to in‑person screenings at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. Silent Rebellion, directed by Marie Elsa Sgualdo, will be available online starting February 9, and What is Love? will have its U.S. premiere at the Bruce Museum on February 8.

The SR Socially Relevant Film Festival 2026 in New York shines a spotlight on socially conscious cinema from around the world — with a special emphasis this year on the French Program, featuring powerful premieres and compelling stories that tackle urgent themes such as identity, resilience, and human connection. Highlights include the world premiere of Can we talk? by Hassan Hamza, the U.S. premieres of Mac & Cheese by Elsa Leviant and Everyone Calls Me Mike by Guillaume Bonnier, and New York State premieres of Tapage by Joséphine Madinier and No Filter Café by Coralie Van Rietschoten and Galaad Hemsi. Each film offers a unique perspective on contemporary social issues, told through bold narratives and inspiring documentary storytelling.

At Anthology Film Archives, the current series includes Maurice Pialat’s We Won’t Grow Old Together (Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble, France 1972), a celebrated French drama exploring a turbulent relationship, as part of the Valentine’s Day Massacre program with multiple screenings throughout February.

Taking place in the heart of Manhattan from February 15–22, 2026, this week-long celebration brings together the best in comedy cinema and performance from around the globe. From world premieres and hilarious feature comedies to inventive shorts and TV pilots, NYCFF showcases the funniest, boldest, and most original voices in comedy today.

This year’s lineup includes standout French projects that bring la joie de vivre and smart humor to New York audiences, in particular, Meet the Barbarians, starring Julie Delpy, will offer a fresh and international comedy perspective!

Discover our roundup of this month’s must-see programs available on the international French-language network, TV5 Monde.

Villa Albertine and Unifrance are pleased to unveil the 2026 Young French Cinema selection, featuring six acclaimed French films still awaiting U.S. distribution. From intimate auteur stories to socially engaged dramas, these bold new works spotlight the most exciting voices in contemporary French cinema, with women directors behind five of the six films. Available à la carte, the program invites art-house theaters, festivals, universities, and cultural organizations nationwide to bring today’s best French films to their audiences.

Bring French Cinema to Your Campus with Albertine Cinémathèque!

Albertine Cinémathèque is designed to expand access to French cinema and support film programming at American colleges and universities.

It provides grants for on-campus French film festivals to its members, along with extensive resources to enrich their events, including:
— A curated list of films selected by its programming committee
— Opportunities to bring filmmakers into dialogue with students

American Universities and Colleges faculty can Become a Member of Albertine Cinémathèque for free!

Albertine Cinémathèque continues to support French film festivals on campus through its annual Festival Grant program. Successful applicants will be selected by a committee of university faculty and will be invited to choose six films from the 2026–2027 Film Selection, for inclusion in their festival. The screening fees for the six films will be paid directly to the distributors by Albertine Foundation.

Apply Now through February 9, 2026 for festivals in 2026-2027