French Films and New Media Highlights This June

Fatima, 17, the youngest of three daughters, treads carefully as she searches her own path, grappling with emerging desires, her attraction to women, and her loyalty to her caring French-Algerian family. Starting university in Paris, she dates, makes friends, and explores a whole new world, all while confronting a timeless and heartrending dilemma: How can one stay true to oneself when reconciling different parts of one’s identity feels impossible?rnrnu003ca href=u0022https://www.filmlinc.org/films/the-little-sister/?utm_source=wordflyu0026amp;utm_medium=emailu0026amp;utm_campaign=TheLittleSisterpressscreeninginviteu0026amp;utm_content=version_Au0022u003eOpen at Film at Liconln Center on June 5. u003c/au003ernrnu003c/divu003e

Algiers, 1938. Meursault, a quiet and unassuming employee in his early thirties, attends his mother’s funeral without shedding a tear. The next day, he begins a casual affair with Marie, a work colleague, and quickly slips back into his usual routine. However, his daily life is soon disrupted by his neighbor, Raymond Sintès, who draws Meursault into his shady dealings — until, on one blisteringly hot day, a tragic event occurs on a beach.

Jason Robards stars as a New York Jewish lawyer who returns to his hometown of Stuttgart after 55 years to find traces of his parents (including a doctor father who was proud of having fought for the Fatherland during WWI) and closest school friend, scion of one of Germany’s most notable families. Told mostly in flashback, u003cemu003eReunionu003c/emu003e centers on the two 16-year-old boys (Christien Anholt as the young Robards and Samuel West as his aristocratic friend) and their unlikely friendship, even as national socialism begins to insinuate itself into everyday life.

Back in his hometown after years abroad, a virtuoso pianist unearths old passions and eerie coincidences in this haunting romantic mystery from one of the world’s most iconoclastic filmmakers.u003c/divu003ernu003c/divu003e

One of a handful of female outsider artists to earn praise from the early exponents of art brut, Aloïse Corbaz—born in modest circumstances in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1886; institutionalized as a schizophrenic in 1918; and kept under psychiatric observation until her death in 1964—is portrayed here by two of the premiere European actresses of their respective generations: Isabelle Huppert, who plays Corbaz as a ruminative, searching young woman, and Delphine Seyrig, astonishingly committed as the elder artist. Produced by Paul Vecchiali, de Kermadec’s sophomore feature, newly restored by Cinémathèque Française, is an ideal introduction to an unjustly forgotten giant of post–New Wave French cinema, who in the same year of its release would serve as one of the producers on Seyrig and Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce. Screens with Qui donc a rêvé?, de Kermadec’s first short, undertaken shortly following an “apprenticeship” period as set photographer to the likes of Agnès Varda and Alain Resnais.

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

A unique selection of films by leading African filmmakers, the Cinémathèque Afrique collection brings together restored works spanning from 1955 to today. Restored by the Institut français and made available by TV5MONDE+, these films offer a rare and essential overview of African cinema, highlighting its diversity, history, and enduring creative power.

This month on the Criterion Channel, set out on an epic journey with our Odysseys collection, or revisit the foundational Bond classics that introduced the silver screen’s most iconic superspy. A spotlight on Courtney Love’s acting career reveals an incandescent screen performer, while a collection of wedding movies explores the tension and breathless expectation surrounding that fateful walk down the aisle. There’s so much more to choose from this month, including a selection of LGBTQ+ Favorites, Steven Spielberg’s jaw-dropping classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the exclusive premiere of Gary Hustwit’s shape-shifting portrait of Brian Eno, cult classics from Alex Cox, and stylish shorts by Yann Gonzalez.

This month’s selection also includes stylish French short films by Yann Gonzalez, a Villa Albertine resident through the “10 in America” program, Orlando, and films directed by Eric Rohmer.

Taking place from June 3–14 in New York City, the Festival will showcase 118 feature films—including a record 103 world premieres—alongside 86 short films. Founded in the aftermath of September 11 on the belief that storytelling unites communities, Tribeca has grown into a global platform for bold storytelling and emerging voices. This milestone edition reflects that legacy, bringing together acclaimed filmmakers, breakthrough talent, and major cultural figures for a can’t miss, citywide celebration.  

L’Alliance New York presents “Why? Because… with Jean-Pierre Gorin”, a rare New York appearance by the filmmaker and film theorist best known for co-founding the Dziga Vertov Group with Jean-Luc Godard. The program is built around French cinema: Renoir’s Toni (1935), Grémillon’s Lumière d’été (1943), Allégret’s Such a Pretty Little Beach (1948), and Godard and Gorin’s Tout va bien (1972) with Jane Fonda and Yves Montand — all introduced by Gorin himself 

Priding himself on his eclecticism when many of his generational cohort of French filmmakers were eager to be seen as auteurist specialists, Louis Malle was perhaps better suited than most Gallic cineastes to cross the Atlantic—and so he did, with aplomb, arriving in the United States towards the end of the 1970s and producing a body of work every bit as distinguished here as that which he’d left behind back home. Accompanying our US premiere of Claire Duguet’s new documentary Louis Malle, le révolté, with Duguet in attendance, Metrograph—with help from the filmmaker’s daughters, Justine Malle and Vogue US editor Chloé Malle, who will be on hand —takes a look back at Malle’s years in les États-Unis. Vive l’Alliance Franco-Américaine!

Interested in nocturnal mysteries? Step inside, Manhattan’s secret cabaret immersive experience. Directed by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus, this reinvention of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s u003cemu003ePhantom of the Operau003c/emu003e transforms the Paris Opera House into a fully enveloping world where audiences move freely through the story: from the grandeur of the masked ball to the intimacy of backstage dressing rooms, down through mirrored passages into the deepest corners of the Phantom’s lair. Woven throughout, live performances, DJ sets, and intimate masked encounters unfold within a hidden, luminous speakeasy — a sensory plunge into music, mystery, and after-dark revelry. stranger and more phantastically than you’ve ever dreamt it.

We are delighted to announce the 2026-2027 Albertine Cinémathèque grantees, who will organize French film festivals on their campuses as part of our long-standing program with US colleges and universities.

This year, our selection committee has recognized 55 French film festivals from a highly competitive pool of applicants. These festivals stood out for their strong curatorial and artistic vision, thoughtful integration into academic curricula, and potential for significant impact within their institutions.

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.