French Film Festival 2012

Selection of the best contemporary films from France.

View other French Film Festival Films by strand: Animation, Cinema Heritage, Classic, Discovery Horizons, Documentary, Preview, Québec Cinema Showcase

Camille Rewinds Camille Rewinds
Camille Rewinds and A Better Life
All Our Desires (Toutesnos envies) (Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Philippe Lioret; Writer: Emmanuel Courcol, Philippe Lioret, from the book by Emmanuel Carrère; Stars: Vincent Lindon, Marie Gillain, Amandine Dewasmes, Yannick Renier, Pascale Arbillot, Isabelle Renauld, Laure Duthilleul, Emmanuel Courcol, Anna-Bella Dreyfus, Thomas Boinet, Léna Crespo, Oriane Solomon, Eric Naggar, Jean-Pol Brissart, Nathalie Besançon)
A judge finds herself taking on loan sharks.
Armed Hands (Mains armées) (Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Pierre Jolivet; Writer: Pierre Jolivet, Simon Michaël; Stars: Roschdy Zem, Leïla Bekhti, Marc Lavoine, Nicolas Bridet, Nicolas Marié, Nina Meurisse, Eric Bougnon, Marilyne Canto, Adrien Jolivet, Cyril Guei, Clémentine Poidatz, Simon-Pierre Boireau, Marc Robert, Bruno Debrandt, Gérard Meylan)
The lives of a police officer and his estranged narc daughter collide.
Bad Seeds (Comme un Homme) (Country: Luxembourg, Belgium, France; Year: 2012; Director: Safy Nebbou; Writer: Safy Nebbou, Gilles Taurand, based on the novel by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac; Stars: Emile Berling, Charles Berling, Sarah Stern, Kévin Azaïs, Mireille Perrier, Patrick Bonnel, Pierre Lottin)
Starring real life father-son actors Charles Berling and Emile Berling as a high school principal and hiswayward teenage son, Louis,who is involved in a rather dubious extracurricular activity: the kidnapping of an English teacher.
A Better Life (Une vie meilleure) (Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Cédric Kahn; Writer: Catherine Paillé, Cédric Kahn; Stars: Guillaume Canet, Leïla Bekhti, Slimane Khettabi, Abraham Belaga, Nicolas Abraham, François Favrat, Brigitte Sy, Fayçal Safi, Annabelle Lengronne, Valérie Even, Daria Kapralska, Yann Andrieu, Atika Taoualit, Arnaud Ducret, Serkan Oba)
An idealistic chef falls for a single mum... but the financial and social class odds are stacked against them.
Camille Rewinds (Camille redouble) (Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: Noémie Lvovsky; Writer: Maud Ameline, Noémie Lvovsky, Pierre-Olivier Mattei, Florence Seyvos; Stars: Noémie Lvovsky, Samir Guesmi, Judith Chemla, India Hair, Julia Faure, Yolande Moreau, Michel Vuillermoz, Denis Podalydès, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Vincent Lacoste, Micha Lescot, Anne Alvaro, Mathieu Amalric, Riad Sattouf, Elsa Amiel)
French remake of Peggy Sue Got Married.
Happiness Never Arrives Alone (Un bonheur n’arrive jamais seul) (Country: France; Year: 2012; Director: James Huth; Writer: James Huth, Sonja Shillito; Stars: Gad Elmaleh, Sophie Marceau, Maurice Barthélémy, François Berléand, Michaël Abiteboul, Julie-Anne Roth, Macha Méril, François Vincentelli, Timéo Leloup, Milena Chiron, Timothé Gauron, Litzi Vezsi, Cyril Guei, Sacha Prijovic, Bérénice Marlohe)
A bachelor who only dates under-21s finds himself falling for a divorced mum of three.
My Worst Nightmare (Mon pire cauchemar) (Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2011; Director: Anne Fontaine; Writer: Anne Fontaine, Nicolas Mercier; Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Poelvoorde, André Dussollier, Virginie Efira, Corentin Devroey, Donatien Suner, Aurélien Recoing, Eric Berger, Philippe Magnan, Bruno Podalydès, Samir Guesmi, Françoise Miquelis, Jean-Luc Couchard, Emilie Gavois-Kahn, Serge Boutleroff)
The class divide after two children from radically different backgrounds become friends.
La Pirogue (Country: France, Senegal, Germany; Year: 2012; Director: Moussa Touré; Writer: Abasse Ndione, Éric Névé, David Bouchet; Stars: Bassirou Diakhate, Moctar Diop)
A group of West African immigrants attempt a hazardous illegal crossing tomainland Europe.
War Of The Buttons (La Guerre des boutons) (Country: France; Year: 2011; Director: Yann Samuell; Writer: Yann Samuell, based on the novel by Louis Pergaud; Stars: Eric Elmosnino, Mathilde Seigner, Fred Testot, Alain Chabat, Vincent Bres, Salomé Lemire, Théo Bertrand, Tristan Vichard, Tom Terrail, Louis Lefèbvre, Victor Le Blond, Arthur Garnier, June Maître, Paloma Lebeaut, Théo Fernandez)
Comedy about rival children's gangs.
News

59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground

More news and features

Playing Now

Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:

Sands Film Festival
Weekend film event in St Andrews

Queer East

Visions du Réel
Swiss documentary showcase

Overlook Film Festival

New Directors/New Films
New York's celebration of new voices

In the Archive


Archive of festival coverage.

Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.

Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.