TV5MONDE Program Highlights – May 2026
Film, Film Series
Rosalie, by Stéphanie Di Giusto will be part of TV5MONDE’s May 2026 lineup, celebrating the Cannes Film Festival.
April 2026
Immerse yourself in French culture by exploring French-language network TV5MONDE’s fantastic May programming, including premium films, new series, special festival coverage, and engaging documentaries.
Throughout May, the international French-language network TV5MONDE offers a rich lineup of entertaining films, series, specials, and variety programming.
Discover our roundup of the must-see programs this month below.
TV5 Monde
Current Affairs
L’invité — May 12-23 at 1:50pm ET/10:50am PT*
*dates and time subject to change
Cannes Film Festival Red Carpet Special
Host Patrick Simonin will be on the red carpet interviewing the stars at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Films
L’enfant qui mesurait le monde— May 5 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
(English ST)
Alexandre, a powerful real estate developer, travels to Greece for his daughter’s funeral. There he discovers the existence of his grandson, Yannis, 9 years old. Living with an autistic disorder, Yannis counts everything: incoming boats, fishermen’s catches, passers-by. Very quickly, a bond forms between them.
Director: Takis Candilis (France, Belgium, 2023)
Cast: Bernard Campan, Raphaël Brottier, Maria Apostolakea, Fotini Peluso
Genre: Dramedy
Awards: Selected at the Cannes Écrans Juniors Festival (France, 2024), the Regards d’ailleurs Festival in Dreux (France, 2024) and the Athens International Film Festival (Greece, 2024)
Mambar Pierrette— May 10 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
Also streaming on TV5MONDE+ beginning May 6
(English ST)
In Douala, in a poor district in the city, the everyday life of Pierrette, a seamstress who takes care of her two children and invalid mother alone. Bravely determined and discreet, she is used to getting by from day-to-day but never gives up.
Director: Rosine Mbakam (Belgium, Cameroon, 2023)
Cast: Pierrette Aboheu Njeuthat, Marguerite Mbakop, Duval Franklin
Genre: Drama
Awards: Selected at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes (France, 2023), Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film (Belgium, 2023), and Tarifa – Tangier African Film Festival (Spain, 2024)
Le plus bel age— May 12 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
Also streaming on TV5MONDE+
(English ST)
The suicide of a brilliant student in the middle of a hazing period sparks a passionate investigation and intertwined love stories in the closed world of a hypokhâgne class.
Director: Didier Haudepin (France, 1994)
Cast: Élodie Bouchez, Melvil Poupaud, Sophie Aubry
Genre: Drama
Awards: Un Certain Regard selection, Cannes (France, 1995)
La mer au loin— May 17 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
Also streaming on TV5MONDE+ beginning May 6
(English ST)
Nour, 27, clandestinely emigrates from Morocco to Marseille in search of a better future. With his friends, he lives off small trafficking operations and leads a marginal and festive life. When he meets Serge and Noémie, a charismatic and mysterious police officer and his wife, his existence takes an unexpected turn.
Director: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi (France, Belgium, Morocco, 2024)
Cast: Ayoub Gretaa, Anna Mouglalis, Grégoire Colin, Omar Boulakirba
Genre: Drama
Awards: Audience Award at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival (Germany, 2024); selected for the Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival (France, 2024), Cinemania (Canada, 2024) and the Marrakech International Film Festival (Morocco, 2024)
Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse— May 19 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
Also streaming on TV5MONDE+
(English ST)
On his return from Tajikistan, Paul is arrested on the French border. It transpires that his homonym made a trip to the URSS in 1980. Plunged into his past, he remembers his childhood in Roubaix, his family, the blossoming of his passion for anthropology, and Esther, his first love.
Director: Arnaud Desplechin (France, 2015)
Cast: Quentin Dolmaire, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, Mathieu Amalric, Dinara Drukarova
Genre: Dramedy
Awards: César Award for Best Director (France, 2016); awards for best music and best director at the Lumières de la presse internationale (France, 2016); in the official selection at the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival (France, 2015)
La nuit du 12— May 24 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
(English ST)
Why was Clara Royer, aged 21, burnt alive? This atrocious femicide will continue to haunt Yohan, a police officer of the Grenoble Criminal Investigation Department, and his colleague Marceau. This must-see thriller, based on true events, won six César awards.
Director: Dominik Moll (France, Belgium, 2022)
Cast: Bastien Bouillon, Bouli Lanners, Anouk Grinberg, Théo Cholbi, Johann Dionnet
Genre: Thriller
Awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Adaptation, Best Supporting Actor (Bouli Lanners), Best Emerging Actor (Bastien Bouillon), Best Sound, ‘César des lycéens’ at the César Awards (France, 2023); Best Foreign Film, Best Actor (Bouli Lanners) at the Magritte du cinéma (Belgium, 2023); Jacques-Deray Prize (France, 2023); selected for the Cannes Festival, ‘Cannes Premières’ category (France, 2022)
Rosalie— May 26 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
(English ST)
In France in 1870, Rosalie is not a woman like the others: since her birth, her face and body have been covered with hair. She shaves it, fearing rejection. When she marries Abel, Rosalie wants to seize this opportunity to free herself and stop hiding.
Director: Stéphanie Di Giusto (France, 2023)
Cast: Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Benoît Magimel, Benjamin Biolay, Guillaume Gouix
Genre: Drama
Awards: Best Actress Award (Nadia Tereszkiewicz) at the Angoulême Festival (France, 2023); selected at the Cannes Festival (France, 2023), at Cinémania (Canada, 2023) and at the French Film Festival of Helvétie (Switzerland, 2023)
Mort sur terre battue—May 29 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the 2026 Roland-Garros tournament (English ST)
During a prestigious tennis tournament, the lifeless body of player Manon Picard is found on the court. The motive appears to be linked to the lucrative contract she signed with a sponsor. Investigators Romain Fabiot and Camille Lauristan are assisted by Vincent Beti, a former player with a troubled past.
Director: Denis Malleval (France, 2025)
Cast: Florent Peyre, Yannick Noah, Roxanne Roux, Célia Lebrument
Genre: Thriller
Ava— May 31 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
Also streaming on TV5MONDE+ beginning May 6
(English ST)
On holiday with her mother, 13-year-old Ava learns that she will go blind more quickly than anticipated. Her heartbroken mother supports her as best she can but this news pushes Ava to live her teenage years while she can. She soon meets Juan.
Director: Léa Mysius (France, 2017)
Cast: Laure Calamy, Noée Abita, Juan Cano, Daouda Diakhate, Baptiste Archimbaud
Genre: Dramedy
Awards: Louve d’or at the Montréal nouveau cinéma festival (Canada, 2017); selected at the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes (France, 2017), the BFI festival (UK, 2017), the Palm Springs festival (USA, 2018); nominated for the Césars (Laure Calamy – Best Supporting Actress) (France, 2018)
Series
Mitterrand Confidentiel— Sundays, beginning May 10 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT
Season premiere
(English ST)
Ep. 1: September 1994. French President François Mitterrand had to manage a complicated cohabitation with Prime Minister Édouard Balladur. The publication of a book by journalist Pierre Péan, tracing his career under the Vichy government, forced the Head of State to justify himself to the French people.
Ep. 2: On November 3, 1994, François Mitterrand saw the existence of his second family made official by Paris Match at the very moment when he was embroiled in the Elysée Palace bugging scandal. He considered these revelations as personal attacks by his opponents.
Director: Antoine Garceau (France, 2025)
Cast: Denis Podalydès, Valérie Karsenti, Judith Chemla, Baptiste Carrion-Weiss
Genre: Biopic miniseries
Documentaries
Les règles du jeu—May 3 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
Also streaming on TV5MONDE+ beginning May 6
(English ST)
Lolita does not like to smile. Kévin does not know how to sell himself. Hamid does not like bosses. At 20, without any diploma, they are looking for work. For six months, the coaches from a placement agency will teach them the behaviour and language one must have today to land a job.
Director: Claudine Bories, Patrice Chagnard (France, 2013)
Genre: Documentary
Awards: Golden Dove for Best Film at the DOK Leipzig Festival (Germany, 2014); selected at the ACID Cannes Festival (France, 2014) and at the Montreal New Cinema Festival (Canada, 2014)
Béatrice Dalle, à prendre ou à laisser—May 14 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT
In celebration of the Cannes Film Festival
Also streaming on TV5MONDE+
(English ST)
1986. Béatrice Dalle hit cinema screens as Betty in “37°2 le Matin”: a veritable shock. Launched as the Bardot of the 1980s, the French actress embodied total freedom and a rock’n’roll femininity, far from the conventions of the day. A look back at her career, narrated by Béatrice herself.
Director: Élise Baudouin (France, 2023)
Genre: Documentary
TV5Monde+
Films
Bal poussière— Streaming beginning May 6
Presented with the Institut français, part of La Cinémathèque Afrique
Please hold all promotion until May 11
(English ST)
The chief of a village in Côte d’Ivoire has five wives. He decides to take a sixth. That way, he will have one for every day of the week. On Sundays, he will rest and reward the one who has behaved the best. But with Binta—the new wife, a modern and spirited young woman—conflicts are not long in breaking out…
Director: Henri Duparc (Côte d’Ivoire, 1989)
Cast: Bamba Bakary, Tcheley Hanny, Naky Sy Savane
Genre: Comedy
Tabataba— Streaming beginning May 6
Presented with the Institut français, part of La Cinémathèque Afrique
Please hold all promotion until May 11
(English ST)
In a small village in Madagascar, the events of the 1947 revolt against French colonization are seen through the eyes of a young boy.
Director: Raymond Rajaonarivelo (Madagascar, 1988)
Cast: François Botozandry, Lucien Dakadisy
Genre: Drama
Series
U-Hauling— Now streaming
(English ST)
Jeanne has slammed the door on Iris. But the latter still hasn’t realized that their relationship is over, convinced Jeanne will forgive her, or so she hopes. But where will she stay now? Moving from place to place and person to person, Iris learns to live without Jeanne.
Director: Dani Vermette (Quebec, 2020)
Cast: Jasmina Parent, Leïla Donabelle-Kaze, Dominik Dagenais, Xavier Roberge
Genre: Drama, miniseries
En haute mer— Streaming beginning May 6
(English ST)
A police inspector is sent to South Africa to escort back a young man suspected of involvement in the disappearance of his girlfriend. He has been arrested aboard a Swiss merchant cargo ship on suspicion of murdering a sailor.
Director: Denis Rabaglia (France, Switzerland, 2024)
Cast: Maud Wyler, Michael Neuenschwander, Carlos Bardem
Genre: Thriller, miniseries
Documentaries
Afrique sur seine— Streaming beginning May 6
Presented with the Institut français, part of La Cinémathèque Afrique
Please hold all promotion until May 11
(English ST)
One of the first films of African cinema, Afrique sur Seine immerses us in the lives of young Africans exiled in 1950s Paris. Is Africa in Africa, on the banks of the Seine, or in the Latin Quarter? Paulin Vieyra and Mamadou Sarr explore the lives of Africans living in Paris.
Director: Paulin Soumanou Vieyra (France, 1955)
Genre: Short film documentary
TV5Monde+ Cinema
Theme: Cannes Festival and other major film festival features
En mai fais ce qu’il te plait— available beginning May 1
(English ST)
In 1940, to escape the German invasion, the inhabitants of a small village in northern France take to the road, joining millions of other French citizens.
Director: Christian Carion (2015)
Cast: August Diehl, Olivier Gourmet, Mathilde Seigner, Matthew Rhys
Genre: War drama
Le dernier souffle— available beginning May 1
A renowned writer meets with a palliative care doctor to discuss the meaning of life and death.
Director: Costa-Gavras (2024)
Cast: Denis Podalydès, Kad Merad, Marilyne Canto, Charlotte Rampling
Genre: Drama
Everybody loves Touda— available beginning May 8
(English ST)
A young singer dreams of becoming a traditional Moroccan folk singer and providing a better life for her son.
Director: Nabil Ayouch (2024)
Cast: Nisrin Erradi, Joud Chamihy, Jalila Talemsi
Genre: Drama
Mazeppa— available beginning May 8
(English ST)
A young romantic painter, fascinated by horses, immerses himself in a traveling circus to master painting horses.
Director: Bartabas (1993)
Cast: Miguel Bosè, Bartabas, Brigitte Marty
Genre: Drama
Gloria Mundi— available beginning May 15
(English ST)
A couple struggles financially while welcoming their first baby, but the new mom’s estranged father, an ex-convict, decides to step in and help.
Director: Robert Guédiguian (2019)
Cast: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan
Genre: Drama
Wild Side— available beginning May 15
(English ST)
A transsexual prostitute leaves Paris to take care of her dying mother.
Director: Sébastien Lifshitz (2004)
Cast: Stéphanie Michelini, Yasmine Belmadi, Edouard Nikitine
Genre: Drama
Razzia— available beginning May 22
(English ST)
The city of Casablanca connects five people with separate narratives.
Director: Nabil Ayouch (2017)
Cast: Maryam Touzani, Arieh Worthalter, Amine Ennaji
Genre: Drama
Différente— available beginning May 22
(English ST)
A 35-year-old researcher for a documentary production company has a chaotic way of navigating her relationship with her boyfriend.
Director: Lola Doillon (2025)
Cast: Jehnny Beth, Thibaut Evrard, Mireille Perrier
Genre: Drama
Lads— available beginning May 29
(English ST)
A young man begins a jockey apprenticeship at a steeplechase stable, the most dangerous form of horse racing.
Director: Julien Menanteau (2024)
Cast: Marco Luraschi, Jeanne Balibar, Marc Barbé
Genre: Drama
L’incroyable femme des neiges— available beginning May 29
(English ST)
A woman returns unannounced to her native village in the Jura Mountains to see the two brothers she hasn’t seen in years.
Director: Sébastien Betbeder (2025)
Cast: Blanche Gardin, Philippe Katerine, Bastien Bouillon
Genre: Drama
**Please note: Programs may change due to last-minute scheduling**
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