American French Film Festival turns 30 with 60 films, Oscar contenders in Los Angeles
France's Oscar entry Minotaur and Romania's Oscar entry Fjord will both screen in Los Angeles next month as part of a 60-title French showcase.
The American French Film Festival is celebrating its 30th edition with 31 fiction features, 11 series, four documentaries and 14 shorts, according to the lineup reported by Variety. The event runs Nov. 3-8 at the Directors Guild of America Theater Complex in Los Angeles.
The scale is large. Fifty-eight of the 60 titles are competing for festival awards. Nineteen will screen in Los Angeles before their release in France.
Awards season gives the programme its headliners. France has submitted Andrey Zvyagintsev's Minotaur, winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes, in the international feature race for the Oscars. Romania has submitted Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, winner of the Palme d'Or, the top prize at Cannes. Fjord stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, as reported by Deadline.
Another centrepiece is De Gaulle. Antonin Baudry's two-part biopic stars Simon Abkarian as the French general. It will have its first screening in the United States at the festival. Baudry and Abkarian are expected to attend a back-to-back marathon of both parts on Nov. 7.
The opening-night film is In Waves. It is directed by Phuong Mai Nguyen and presented with Netflix. The lineup also includes All of a Sudden, listed among the festival selections by The Hollywood Reporter.
Documentaries form a small, focused strand. The four competing titles are Inside Gaza, Rebounds, We Are the Orchestra and Whispers in the Woods, according to festival listings on TAFFF. Inside Gaza by Helene Lam Trong follows Palestinian reporters working for AFP. Rebounds traces the history of electro dance. We Are the Orchestra follows the Orchestre de Paris and conductor Klaus Makela. Whispers in the Woods follows wildlife photographer Vincent Munier with his father and son.
For fans, this means early access and easy viewing. All programmes will be presented with English subtitles. Tickets go on sale Oct. 8 at tafff.org, with the full schedule due Oct. 6. Admission is free for members of the DGA, WGA West and SAG, with SAG members included for the first time in 2026. Audience Award voters are eligible to win a trip for two to Paris and a European river cruise for two, offered by festival partners.
What makes this stand out is the timing. Los Angeles gets major Cannes winners, future French releases and series in one week, just as awards campaigns take shape.
