French Film Festival UK 2025: Top Five Picks
The long-running and much-loved French Film Festival UK has an exceptional lineup this year. Over 60 films screen at over 40 different locations across the UK. We suggest five films to seek out
This year’s French Film Festival UK lineup is sparkling. Richard Linklater, Hafsia Herzi, Cédric Klapisch, Julia Ducornau, and Rebecca Zlotowski are among the filmmakers with exciting work in the programme, which will screen at over 40 venues across the UK, including the GFT in Glasgow, the DCA in Dundee, and the Filmhouse, Cameo and Institut Français d’Ecosse in Edinburgh.
When the festival launched back in mid-October, we ran through some of the highlights. But for a more curated selection, here are five films we'd urge you to seek out when the festival returns this month, from 6 November to 14 December.
Enzo
The story behind Enzo’s production is just as moving as the film itself. It’s the final work from Laurent Cantet (The Class), who wrote it with longtime collaborator Robin Campillo (120 BPM). Cantet was also planning to direct, but died from cancer last year before production began. Campillo stepped in to take over from his old friend, and the resulting film, a heartfelt drama concerned with class divisions and queer coming-of-age, reportedly showcases the best of both filmmakers.
Sirāt
Sirāt begins with a hedonistic alfresco rave, and by its end, it resembles a survivalist thriller. The title refers to the Islamic word for the narrow bridge between Paradise and Hell, and Oliver Laxe’s film walks this tightrope, with its characters ricocheting from drug-induced highs set to pulsating electro to soul-shattering tragedy and edge-of-your-seat tension as a group of ravers lead a father and son on an ill-advised expedition across the Moroccan desert.
The Stranger
François Ozon always keeps us guessing, and his eclectic oeuvre takes another unexpected turn with this visually sumptuous adaptation of Albert Camus’ existential classic. Benjamin Voisin, who was equal parts sexy and menacing in Ozon’s Summer of ‘85, reportedly makes for a compelling Meursault, the quiet young man who senslessly commits murder one night. This is Ozon’s 22nd feature since the turn of the century, and word is it’s one of his best.
Out of Love
Call My Agent's Camille Cottin is superb in this nuanced French drama about a middle-aged woman who's suddenly charged with the care of her niece and nephew when her sister walks out on her life. It’s the third feature from the prodigiously talented Nathan Ambrosioni (he’s 26, and has been making independent features since his teens), and its sophisticated script and measured direction mark him out as one of France’s most exciting talents.
A Magnificent Life
FFFUK's programme features Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater’s open-hearted celebration of cinema rule-breaker Jean-Luc Godard. But there’s another love letter to a titan of the French arts that you should check out: A Magnificent Life, Sylvain Chomet’s animated biopic of the much-loved playwright Marcel Pagnol. It’s been 15 years since Chomet’s last animated feature – the whimsical The Illusionist – so this should be top of any animation (or Pagnol) fans' list.
6 Nov-14 Dec at various venues across Scotland. Full details at frenchfilmfestival.org.uk