The Adelaide Film Festival 2026 program was launched last week. Over a series of articles, we’ll explore the festival’s French connections, including films in French, films from France and the Francophonie, French co-productions, and films with story links to France and the French-speaking world. In this first article, we’re focusing exclusively on films in which French is the only language spoken and short films from the Francophonie without dialogue.
Among them, you’ll find a hilarious animated film about a gay, roided-up Parisian influencer, who is struck down by a plague that turns you straight, and a World War II-set film that offers a sly, unsettling meditation on power and opportunism during the early days of the German Occupation.
Short films take us into a fantastical world inhabited by strange half-human, half-animal passengers; and a crumbling city, suspended in time. They tell of a woman and her dog who hope to meet someone special on an afternoon walk in the forest; a family trip to Paris for a family member’s wedding that becomes unpredictably delayed; and a cyclist who begins to view the world through a new lens after witnessing two people in a tender embrace.
Here are the French-language films coming to Adelaide Film Festival 2026.
FILMS SOLEY IN FRENCH AT ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL 2026
Director: Emmanuel Marre
Countries: Belgium and France
Language: French
Set in World War 2 France during the early months of the German Occupation, Emmanuel Marre’s Cannes-winning screenplay grapples with the personal and the political at a moment of profound national upheaval. Anchored by Swann Arlaud’s (Anatomy of a Fall, The Great Arch) gripping central performance, A Man of His Time is a sly, unsettling meditation on power and opportunism.
Director: Marco Nguyen & Nicolas Athanè
Country: France
Language: French
What happens when roided-up social media influencer, Jim Parfait, who rules Paris’s queer clubs with his bulging pecs, is struck down by the heinously beige plague heterosis? It’s left to nerdy twink Lucien to save the day, if only he can keep his right-wing mum at bay.
SPECIAL EVENT: This film was chosen for the Saturday Night Party presented by Adelaide Film Festival in partnership with Feast Festival. The night starts with the screening before spilling into Cinema Place for drinks, canapés, tunes and plenty of dancing.
Dress code: Dress as your best queen self!
SHORT FILMS IN FRENCH AT ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL 2026
Director: Sylwia Szkiladz
Country: Belgium & France
Language: French
Eight-year-old Agata leaves her Polish homeland to take a bus to Belgium by herself. Along the way she tumbles into a fantastical world inhabited by strange half-human, half-animal passengers.
This screens with other short films in the Animation Shorts program
Director: Wang Han-Xuan
Country: China & United States
Language: French
A Chinese father hopes to accompany his children to his son’s wedding in Paris, but their trip becomes unpredictably delayed.
This screens with other short films in the Queer Shorts program
Director: Aude Thuries
Country: France
Language: French
A woman and her dog hope to meet someone special on an afternoon walk in the forest.
It stars Noémie Lvovsky (the actress with most nominations for the César Award for Best Supporting Actress. She’s received seven nominations: in 2002 for My Wife Is an Actress, in 2006 for Backstage, in 2008 for Actrices, in 2010 for The French Kissers, in 2012 for House of Pleasures, in 2016 for Summertime and in 2021 for How to Be a Good Wife) and Guillaume Gallienne (Me, Myself and Mum)
This screens with other short films in the World Shorts program.
SHORT FILMS FROM THE FRANCOPHONIE WITHOUT DIALOGUE AT ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL 2026
Director: Nicolas Fong
Country: Belgium
Language: No Dialogue
A cyclist witnesses two people in a tender embrace, and begins to view the world through a new lens.
This screens with other short films in its Animation Shorts program.
Director: Nicolas Piret
Country: Belgium
Language: No dialogue
A blend of archival footage, animation, and contemporary observation reveal a crumbling city, suspended in time.
This film screens with other short films in the Animation Shorts program.
KEY INFO FOR ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL 2026
WHAT: Adelaide Film Festival 2026
WHEN: 14-25 October 2026
WHERE: Various cinemas in Adelaide
HOW: Purchase your tickets via the links above. Or, if you want to see multiple films, or there are several of you going to any one film, you may wish to purchase a Film Pass.
HOW MUCH:
Individual ticket prices are as follows:
Standard Screenings (exclusive of booking fee):
- Adult $25
- Concession $20
Saturday Night Party (exclusive of booking fee)
- $74 Full Price
- $64 Concession
Film Pass pricing (exclusive of booking fee):
3 Film Pass – $59 Full Price, $49 Concession
Valid for 3 standard screenings, or can be used for up to 3 tickets for a single session.
5 Film Pass – $95 Full Price. $79 Concession
This pass is valid for 5 standard screenings. Book up to 3 tickets per session.
10 Film Pass – $175 Full Price, $145 Concession
This pass is valid for 10 standard screenings. Book up to 4 tickets per session
Gold Pass $299 Full Price, $255 Concession.
1 ticket to all standard screenings, standby priority and an official AFF Lanyard
NOTE: You still need to book your spot in each session you wish to attend – the pass alone does not guarantee a seat
Platinum Pass $599 Full Price, $525 Concession.
The blockbuster of passes!
1 ticket to all standard screenings and galas, select party and event invitations, standby priority, concierge booking service, and an official AFF lanyard.
Pass benefits are non-transferable and tickets must be booked to guarantee a seat.
OTHER TICKET OPTIONS
Pay what you can – students, Centrelink Health Care and Pension card holders
Equity ticketing is available for weekday sessions before 4pm. You can purchase them in the app or online and simply pay how much you choose to.
AFF Rushes
$10 tickets will be released at midday every day of the festival on the AFF app.
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Stay tuned for more Adelaide Film Festival 2026 content including the multilingual films where French is one of the languages, and the co-productions that aren’t in French.
