Throughout March, 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

Films

Dent pour dent—March 2 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of FESPACO and of Francophonie Month

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

Senegal, 2011. Augustin lives in the Dakar suburbs. Following budget cuts, he loses his job as a civil servant and is forced to live off his wife’s money. He then tries all possible means to regain his male pride which he thinks he has lost…

Director: Ottis Ba Mamadou (France, Belgium, Senegal, 2022)
Cast: Charles August Koutou, Ndeye Oumy Mbaye, Jean Pierre Correa, and Ndeye Oumou Kaltoum Ndiaye
Genre: Dramedy
Awards: FESPACO Official Selection (2023)

Disco Afrika : une histoire malgache—March 4 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT

In celebration of FESPACO and of Francophonie Month

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

Madagascar, today. Kwame tries to earn a living in the clandestine sapphire mines. But he is forced to return to his hometown. Confronted with the corruption plaguing his country, he must choose between easy money and brotherhood, individualism and awakening of a political conscience.

Director: Luck Razanajaona (Madagascar, France, 2023)
Cast: Luck Razanajaona, Parista Sambo, Laurette Ramasinjanahary, Joe Lerova, and Drwina Razafimahaleo
Genre: Drama
Awards: Honorable Mention at the Berlinale (Germany, 2024), Best Actor Award at the African Cinema Festival (Parista Sambo) (Spain, 2024), Jury Prize at the Afrika Film Festival Cologne (Germany, 2024)

Annie colère—March 9 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of International Women’s Day and of Francophonie Month

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus beginning March 5

A working mother of two teenagers becomes pregnant in the 1970s and decides to meet with a movement that performs illegal abortions.

Director: Blandine Lenoir (2022)
Cast: Laure Calamy, Zita Hanrot, and India Hair
Genre: Drama
Awards: Public Award at Ohlalà! (Spain, 2023); Selected at Angoulême Festival (France, 2022), Locarno Festival – Piazza Grande section (Switzerland, 2022), Vienna Festival (Austria, 2022)

Gardez le sourire—March 11 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In recognition of the week of actions led by the interministerial delegation for the fight against racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-LGBT hatred

Vienna in the 1930s. Jean has no work and nowhere to live. He is so desperate that he thinks about drowning himself in the Danube. But a young woman, Marie, jumps off a bridge just before him. Jean saves her and comforts her. Suicide is never an option again.

Director: Paul Fejos and René Sti (France, 1933)
Cast: Annabella, Gustav Fröhlich, Robert Ozanne, and Marcel Vibert
Genre: Drama

Number One—March 13 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of Ramadan and of Francophonie Month

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

Aziz runs a clothing factory with fifty employees that he terrorizes. The day that his wife discovers that he can also be a gentleman when he needs to convince a foreign customer, she decides to curse him. Aziz becomes a feminist in spite of himself; his life becomes hell…

Director: Zakia Tahiri (Morocco, 2008)
Cast: Aziz Saadallah, Nezha Rahil, Chantal Ladesou, Khadija Assad, and Abderahim Bargache
Genre: Comedy
Awards: Festival Arte Mare of Bastia Best Male Actor Winner (Aziz Saadallah, 2008)

La cordonnière—March 16 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of Francophonie Month

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

Victoire Du Sault, a bold and visionary shoemaker, founded the company that made the fortune of the Dufresne family. But to achieve the success she sought, she had to abandon her first great love. A secret that, whatever happened, she needed to keep secret from her husband.

Director: François Bouvier (Canada, 2023)
Cast: Rose-Marie Perreault, Pierre-Yves Cardinal, Madeleine Péloquin, Jeff Boudreault, and Anick Lemay
Genre: Drama
Awards: Le Gala Quebec Cinema Best Hairstyling Winner, Best Visual Effects and Best Costume Design Nominees (2023)

La permission—March 18 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In recognition of the week of actions led by the interministerial delegation for the fight against racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-LGBT hatred

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus beginning March 5

Turner, a black American soldier, meets Miriam, a white French woman, during a three-day stay in Paris. They decide to spend the weekend together in a hotel in Normandy but are confronted with racial prejudice.

Director: Melvin Van Peebles (France, 1968)
Cast: Harry Baird, Nicole Berger, Pierre Doris, and Christian Marin
Genre: Drama
Awards: Selected at Lyon Lumière Festival Cannes Classics (France, 2020)

Timgad—March 20 at 9:30pm ET/5:30pm PT (English ST)

In recognition of Ramadan

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

1996, Timgad in Algeria, twelve babies are born on the same night. Twelve years later, Mokhtar, their teacher, dreams of forming a football team with them, the Juventus of Timgad. Jamel, an archaeologist and former footballer, who is back in the country to carry out excavations, will help out.

Director: Fabrice Benchaouche (Belgium, Algeria, France, 2015)
Cast: Fabrice Benchaouche, Mounir Margoum, Sid Ahmed Agoumi, Myriem Akheddiou, and Mourade Zeguendi
Genre: Comedy
Awards: People’s Award at Cinemed Montpellier (France, 2016)

L’amour du monde—March 23 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of Prix du cinéma Suisse

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus beginning March 5

Margaux, 15 years old, is spending her holidays with her father and his new partner. During an internship at a home for children in difficulty, she befriends Juliette, seven-years-old, and Joel, a thirty-something fisherman returning from Indonesia. A meeting that will upend her summer…

Director: Jenna Hasse (Switzerland, 2023)
Cast: Clarisse Moussa, Esin Demircan, Marc Oosterhoff, and Pierre Mifsud
Genre: Drama
Awards: Prix du cinéma Suisse Best Film Nominee (2024), Berlinale Best Film Winner (2023)

Vivants—March 30 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of Francophonie Month

Gabrielle joined a prestigious news program. With no formal training, she must prove herself and find a place among an experienced team of special correspondents.

Director: Alix Delaporte (France, Belgium, 2023)
Cast: Alice Isaaz, Roschdy Zem, and Vincent Elbaz
Genre: Drama

Series

Jacky and Lindsay—Wednesdays starting March 5 at 1:00am ET/10:00pm PT; March 12 at 2:00am ET/11:00pm PT; March 19 at 2:00am ET/11:00pm PT; March 26 at 2:00am ET/11:00pm PT (English ST)

Season 1 premiere

In celebration of Francophonie Week

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

Jacky and Lindsay have been in love for twenty years and have always known difficult times. They are now getting ready for the arrival of their child, with their heads full of dreams of England, but facing never-ending debts… A tragi-comical road trip which shows that misfortune never comes alone.

Jacky and Lindsay celebrate the anniversary of when they first met. But their joy fades quickly on the arrival of the bailiffs. They are forced to run away using Lindsay’s ice cream van.

Jacky and Lindsay flee in their van towards England. After avoiding a big crash, they meet a rich family.

Director: Sylvestre Vannoorenberghe (Belgium, 2021)
Cast: Martin Goossens, Mathilde Mosseray, Diego Murgia, and Leila Morelle
Genre: Dramedy

Discussions avec mes parents— Wednesdays starting March 5 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT; March 12 at 12:30am ET/9:30pm PT; March 19 at 12:30am ET/9:30pm PT; March 26 at 12:30am ET/9:30pm PT (English ST)

Season 3 premiere

In celebration of Francophonie Week

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

A fun look into the lives and relationships of a family in Quebec.

François learns that his parents have been renting out his childhood bedroom for several months via the BNB Away platform. And at the same time, he meets a new woman, Virginie, but is rather taken aback by her voice.

Whilst he and Rollande are trying to decide which of their three children should be the executor for their will, Jean-Pierre decides to enter the world of podcasts with his own internet talk show: the Jipi Show.

Director: Pascal L’Heureux (Canada, 2020)
Cast: François Morency, Vincent Bilodeau, Marie-Ginette Guay, Blaise Tardif, and Caroline Bouchard
Genre: Comedy

La peste— Sundays starting March 9 at 12:30am ET/9:30pm PT (English ST)

Season 1 premiere

In celebration of Francophonie Week

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus beginning March 5

France, 2030. COVID-19 epidemics have barely stopped when a new variant of the plague bacillus, called YP2, is discovered in a southern city. Due to lack of treatment, the government urgently decides to seal off the perimeter and apply the mysterious “Plan D.”

The South of France, summer of 2030. Dr Rieux finds a dead rat on his staircase landing. He is contacted by Rambert, a journalist who has come from Paris to investigate strange disappearances, which have all been dropped by the police. The mayor is not worried. A mysterious disease starts to spread…

During a heated meeting at the town hall, Rieux, Molinier, and Castel warn the authorities about a mutant strain of the plague. No one listens to them to avoid scaring away tourists. The prefect ends up by locking down the town and touches on implementing the mysterious ”D Plan.”

Director: Antoine Garceau (France, 2023)
Cast: Frédéric Pierrot, Hugo Becker, Johan Heldenbergh, and Judith Chemla
Genre: Drama, miniseries (4 episodes)

Baraki— Tuesdays starting March 11 at 12:30pm ET/9:30pm PT (English ST)

Season 1 premiere

In celebration of Francophonie Week

Also streaming season 2 on TV5MONDEplus

The entire region knows the Berthet family. When people talk about them, they call them ‘gypsies’. Larissa Berthet houses her entire tribe in her home, including Yvan, a local orphan whom she took in and raised as her son. When Yvan finds out that he is to become a father, he decides to become a ‘normal’ man. However, a local bipolar dealer, a jealous cop, an unstable ex, and a Machiavellian stepmother have other plans. Luckily, his family is there to support him. But when you’re a Berthet some things just aren’t as simple as they seem.

Director: Julien Vargas, Fred de Loof, and Peter Ninane (Belgian, 2021)
Cast: Pierre Nisse, Julien Vargas, and Sophie Breyer
Genre: Comedy

L’art du crime— Sundays starting March 23 at 12:30pm ET/9:30pm PT; March 30 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT; March 31 at 1:30pm ET/10:30pm PT (English ST)

Season 5 re-run

Police officer Antoine Verlay and art historian Florence Chassagne investigate crimes in Paris related to art and cultural property. Their contradictions cause turbulence, but at the same time also success.

A wealthy collector, Pierre Chassagne’s close friend and Camille Claudel enthusiast, has been murdered. The investigation leads Antoine and Florence to the Rodin Museum, but all the clues point to the heart-wrenching love affair between Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin. Can a broken heart make you mad enough to kill?

At the Louvre Museum a Eugène Delacroix enthusiast is killed after having admired one of the artist’s works. Simon is the sole witness, a teenager with a quite extraordinary memory. Without having seen the murderer’s face, his hypermnesia might still enable an identification. The youngster’s life is now in danger…

Director: Léa Frazer (France, 2021)
Cast: Nicolas Gob, Éléonore Bernheim, Philippe Duclos, Barbara Schulz, Florence Pernel, Garance Thenault, and Dounia Coesens
Genre: Thriller

Documentaries

Femmes symphoniques—March 3 at 3:00pm ET/12:00pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of International Women’s Day

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

A wide-ranging look at the careers of the women conductors redefining the world of classical music. Previously dominated by men, this musical genre is being transformed from the inside by the passion of women musicians pushing out the boundaries. In Canada, we meet Dina Gilbert, Mélanie Léonard, and Naomi Woo.

Director: Patricia Beaulieu (Canada, 2022)
Genre: Documentary

Brigitte Fontaine, réveiller les vivants—March 5 at 3:00pm ET/12:00pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of International Women’s Day

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

Iconoclast, avant-garde, turbulent poet, verbal alchemist, both novelist and actress, playwright, lyricist, singer… Brigitte Fontaine recounts her life. From the early 1960s, she wrote her own texts, collaborated with innumerable headline artists (Higelin, Daho, -M-), all with the close complicity of Areski Belkacem. Portrait of the queen of the ”kékés”.

Director: Benoît Mouchart, Yann Orhan, and Aurélien Guégan (France, 2023)
Genre: Documentary

Sans frapper—March 6 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of International Women’s Day and of Francophonie Month

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus beginning March 15

A kaleidoscopic look at the issue of rape, presenting the true story of a victim, Ada, through several voices.

Director: Alexe Poukine (Belgium, France 2019)
Genre: Documentary
Awards: Jury Prize at Vision du Réel Festival (Switzerland, 2019), Best Documentary at Dei Popoli Festival (Italy, 2019), selected at Angers European First Film Festival (France, 2020), Seville European Film Festival – New Waves/Non-Fiction section (Spain, 2019), Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film (Belgium, 2020)

Je suis noires—March 7 at 3:00pm ET/12:00pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of International Women’s Day

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

In Switzerland, land of consensus and neutrality, previously unheard women’s voices are being raised against structural racism and stereotypes. A context in which the Swiss-Congolese journalist Rachel M’Bon begins her own quest for identity and freedom, questioning her past and her present, holding up a mirror to her peers.

Director: Juliana Fanjul and Rachel M’Bon (Switzerland, 2022)
Genre: Documentary

Espèces d’ordures—Mondays beginning March 10 at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT

In celebration of Francophonie Week

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

Wherever there are humans, there is waste, and for the planet it has become an enormous problem! The good news is that there are a host of green initiatives currently being implemented to bring things under control. We join Frédéric Choinière for a little tour of the world.

With a population of 8 million and tens of millions of tourists, New York is not just the city that never sleeps, it is also one that never stops consuming, producing an astronomical quantity of waste: 10,000 tons per day. Initiatives have been taken to try to reduce it.

On the western seaboard of the USA, Seattle, one of the most dynamic and densely populated American cities, is aiming for zero waste by 2030. This port city has shown plenty of creativity and implemented an ever-increasing number of initiatives: underground composting centers, recycling…

Director: Émilie Ricard-Harvey and Arnaud Bouquet (Canada, 2023)
Host: Frédéric Choinière
Genre: Documentary series, environment

Les docs de la grande librairie: Maupassant—March 19 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of Francophonie Week

The author of Dear Friend, A Life, and The Horla was a veritable comet. In twelve years, Guy de Maupassant wrote six novels, seven plays, some three hundred novellas and thousands of articles… before dying in 1893, aged 42. A look back at the life and career of a non-conformist.

Director: Catherine Aventurie (France, 2024)
Host: François Busnel
Genre: Documentary

Hawar, nos enfants bannis—March 25 at 9:30pm ET/6:30pm PT (English ST)

In celebration of Francophonie Month

Also streaming on TV5MONDEplus

2014. Thousands of Yazidi women kidnapped by ISIS were reduced to sexual slavery. On being freed, Ana was forced to abandon her baby. All the children born as a result of these rapes were systematically rejected by the Yazidi community. Ana secretly crosses Kurdistan to see her daughter Marya again.

Director: Pascale Bourgaux (Belgium, Switzerland, 2022)
Genre: Documentary
Awards: Biarritz FIPADOC Prize for Women in the Media (France, 2024); Selected for the Cévennes International Documentary Festival (2024), the Nyon Visions du Réel Festival (Switzerland, 2023), and the Brussels BRIFF Grand Prix Nominee (Belgium, 2023)

TV5 Monde Plus

Films

Cigare au miel—Streaming beginning March 5 (English ST)

In celebration of International Women’s Day

1993. Selma, 17, lives in a Berber, bourgeois, and secular family. When she meets Julien, she becomes aware of the family patriarchy that surrounds her and prevents her from flourishing. While at the same time radical Islamism rages in Algeria and her family collapses, Selma discovers the power of her own desire…

Director: Kamir Aïnouz (France, 2020)
Cast: Zoé Adjani, Amira Casar, Lyes Salem, Louis Peres, Idir Chender, Axel Granberger, and Jud Bengana
Genre: Drama
Awards: Venice Film Festival Giornate degli Autori Award Nominee (2020)

Series

Discrètes— Streaming beginning March 5 (English ST)

Season 1 premiere

In celebration of International Women’s Day

Macha and Gaby are housekeeping attendants for Discrètes, a company commissioned to clean an office tower. The night Macha saves Gaby from the hands of her attacker, in this case a lawyer from Cabinet Fichaud, they begin a quest to take justice into their own hands.

Director: Sophia Belahmer and Juliette Gosselin (Canada, 2024)
Cast: Juliette Gosselin, Aurélia Arandi-Longpré, and Olivier Gervais-Courchesne
Genre: Drama

Belle-Mère— Streaming beginning March 5 (English ST)

Season 1 premiere

Frédérique, Christophe, and Geneviève meet each week to share and support each other. Because it is not always easy to live with your spouse’s child.

Frédérique, Geneviève, and Christophe are kicked out of a step-parent support group. They decide to form their own collective.

Director: Hervé Baillargeon (Canada, 2023)
Cast: Camille Felton, Sacha Charles, and Myriam Fournier
Genre: Comedy

La médiatrice— Streaming beginning March 5 (English ST)

Season 1 premiere

A well-known mediator must find an outlet to keep her caring separation process from going off the rails. With her friend, she avenges the victims of unjustly treated break-ups.

Director: Isabelle Garneau (Canada, 2024)
Cast: Mylène Mackay, Ariane Castellanos, and Maxime de Cotret
Genre: Comedy

L’empereur— Streaming beginning March 5 (English ST)

Season 1 premiere

In celebration of International Women’s Day

Things get out of hand when Christian takes Manuela home after a wild office party in 2005. Despite this, they continue to work together as Christian makes Manuela his business partner and helps her move up the ladder.

Director: Isabelle Garneau (Canada, 2023)
Cast: Macha Grenon, Madeleine Péloquin, and Jean-Philippe Perras
Genre: Drama
Awards: Prix Gémeaux Best Supporting Actress in a Dramatic Series, Best Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series, and Best Sound Nominees

TV5 Monde Cinema

Theme: Thrillers and crimes

L’indiscrétion— available beginning March 7 (English ST)

A technician on holiday in Paris becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his neighbors.

Director: Pierre Lary (1982)
Cast: Jean Rochefort, Jean-Pierre Marielle, and Dominique Sanda
Genre: Crime

Frères ennemis— available beginning March 7 (English ST)

Two childhood best friends end up on opposite paths: one becomes the head of a drug cartel, while the other becomes a cop.

Director: David Oelhoffen (2018)
Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Reda Kateb, and Adel Bencherif
Genre: Thriller

Une nuit— available beginning March 7 (English ST)

A Paris police commander is caught in a web of lies and corruption.

Director: Philippe Lefebvre (2012)
Cast: Roschdy Zem, Sara Forestier, and Samuel Le Bihan
Genre: Crime

Contre-enquête— available beginning March 14 (English ST)

A workaholic cop, accustomed to facing the worst kinds of crimes, is thrown into turmoil when his own daughter is murdered.

Director: Franck Mancuso (2007)
Cast: Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lucas, and Agnès Blanchot
Genre: Crime

Le successeur— available beginning March 21 (English ST)

A newly appointed artistic director learns that his estranged father has died of a heart attack. Traveling to Quebec to settle the estate, he discovers he’s inherited far more than his father’s fragile heart.

Director: Xavier Legrand (2024)
Cast: Marc-André Grondin, Yves Jacques, and Anne-Élisabeth Bossé
Genre: Thriller

Les insoumis— available beginning March 21 (English ST)

A burned-out detective is transferred to a small provincial police station to dismantle a violent gang.

Director: Claude-Michel Rome (2008)
Cast: Richard Berry, Pascal Elbé, and Zabou Breitman
Genre: Crime

Pas de vagues— available beginning March 21 (English ST)

A young teacher is wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct by a teenage girl in his class.

Director: Teddy Lussi-Modeste (2024)
Cast: François Civil, Shaïn Boumedine, and Mallory Wanecque
Genre: Thriller

Une affaire de principe— available beginning March 28 (English ST)

The European Commissioner for Health is accused of corruption and influence peddling tied to the tobacco industry.

Director: Antoine Raimbault (2024)
Cast: Bouli Lanners, Thomas VDB, and Céleste Brunnquell
Genre: Thriller

Les parfums— available beginning March 28 (English ST)

A diva perfumer hires a new driver, who ends up being the only one bold enough to confront her.

Director: Grégory Magne (2020)
Cast: Emmanuelle Devos and Grégory Montel
Genre: Dramedy