The Boston French Film Festival returns with an exciting lineup that captures the textures, tensions, and petits bonheurs (small joys) of contemporary French life. The festival opens with Three Friends, Emmanuel Mouret's bittersweet comedy about love, infidelity, and emotional entanglement among a trio of women. Catherine Deneuve leads The President's Wife, a sly comedy about politician Bernadette Chirac's bid to step out from her husband's shadow. Winner of the 2024 Jury Prize and Best Actor award in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes, Souleymane's Story is a gripping portrait of life on the margins. Holy Cow brings charm to the lineup with a tale about a teenage cheesemaker chasing a contest prize, while Night Call delivers high-stakes thrills as a locksmith races through Brussels during a night of unrest. Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte's sweeping new adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo reminds us that French cinema, like the country's literature, still revels in grand tales of betrayal, justice, and revenge.
Together, these films offer a vivid snapshot of a society in motion—ever-evolving while remaining rooted in the passionate pursuit of artistic and intellectual truth. Grab some French wine and cheese at Taste and join us for these evocative stories.
Schedule of Events:
11:00 am–12:45 pm - Misericordia
Directed by Alain Guiraudie (France, Spain, and Portugal, 2024, 104 min.). French with English subtitles.
The tangled ambiguities of love, death, and desire remain fertile ground for Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake), who returns with Misericordia, a sharp and darkly funny thriller. Set in a misty, autumnal village in Guiraudie’s native Occitanie, the film follows Jérémie (Félix Kysyl), an out-of-work baker who drifts back to his hometown after the death of his former employer.
Long after the funeral, Jérémie lingers—gently insinuating himself into the life of his late boss’s family, from the warm-hearted widow (Catherine Frot) to the volatile son (Jean-Baptiste Durand), all while striking up a curiously warm rapport with a relentlessly upbeat local priest (Jacques Develay).
In Guiraudie’s disarmingly sensual and morally slippery world, violence and eroticism erupt without warning, and criminal impulses emerge as natural extensions of longing. With Misericordia, he once again upends genre expectations, crafting a deceptively quiet tale that simmers with menace, desire, and subversive wit.
"A welcome re-embrace of the streamlined murdery perversities of his terrific Stranger by the Lake, Alain Guiraudie gives [Cannes Film Festival] one of its darkly sparkling standouts.… there hasn’t been a more exaggeratedly eccentric vision of French provincialism since Bruno Dumont established his Li’l Quinquin universe." —Variety
Members
$12.00
Nonmembers
$15.00
2:30 pm–4:15 pm - The President’s Wife (Bernadette)
Directed by Léa Domenach (France, USA, and Belgium, 2023, 92 min.). French with English subtitles.
In this wittily fictionalized biopic, French icon Catherine Deneuve steals the spotlight as Bernadette Chirac, the long-overlooked First Lady of France who decides it’s time to rewrite her own legacy. While her husband, President Jacques Chirac (Michel Vuillermoz), basks in political power and personal oblivion, Bernadette embarks on a transformation—from ridiculed spouse in retro skirt suits to media-savvy operator with a modern edge.
Blending real historical moments with gleefully fictionalized episodes, director Léa Domenach crafts a sharp, satirical portrait of image-making, ambition, and late-in-life reinvention. Deneuve delivers a droll performance that anchors the film’s mix of political farce and pop-feminist flair, while Denis Podalydès shines as her loyal right-hand man.
"A puckish, highly fictionalized biopic with a pop-feminist edge … with the French film icon Catherine Deneuve bringing glamour and droll gusto to the part." —New York Times
Members
$12.00
Nonmembers
$15.00
Location: Harry and Mildred Remis Auditorium (Auditorium 161)
