Europa Europa Film Festival 2025 starts in Melbourne and Sydney tomorrow. In the 44 film program, there are 16 French language films new and old, including four new 4K restorations of some of Francois Truffaut’s films, plus a Franco-Belge English language production starring Catherine Deneuve.
This year’s festival features plenty of Australian premieres and festival exclusives. Before the Alliance Française French Film Festival 2025 starts in March, you can see two films from that program at Europa Europa. Read on to discover all the films.
A Little Something Extra (Un p’tit truc n plus)
The number one hit at the French box office last year – surpassing 10 million admissions to become one of the highest-grossing films of all time – this warm and deeply humanistic comedy from popular French comedian Artus is an irreverent fish-out-of-water romp.
To escape from the police after a chaotic jewel heist, a notorious criminal and his adult son Paulo (Artus) chance upon an unexpected escape route when they are mistakenly ushered onto a bus bound for a summer camp for young adults with disabilities.
Kicking off a series of whacky misadventures, this desperate escape plan becomes a profound and unexpected journey of growth and connection that will transform the pair forever. The casting of non-professional actors in supporting roles gives this big-hearted film its humanistic core and offers a rare window into the daily lives of people living with disabilities.
In the name of blood (Brûle le sang)
COUNTRIES: Belgium, Georgia, France, Austria
LANGUAGES: Georgian, French
In a working-class neighbourhood of Nice, a pillar of the local Georgian diaspora is murdered. His son, who aspires to become an orthodox priest, finds himself alone and caring for his grieving mother. When his troubled older brother reappears looking to make amends, the two men are drawn into a murky criminal underworld as they look to avenge their father and heal the broken bonds of their family.
Director Akaki Popkhandze has crafted an electrifying and propulsive debut feature that uses the conventions of the crime genre to explore family, faith and community. Anchoring the film are excellent performances from Nicolas Duvauchelle and Florent Hill as two brothers who find common ground in their starkly different moral codes.
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
When budding photographer Aymeric runs into his former co-worker Florence one evening in his hometown of Saint-Claude, he discovers that she’s six months pregnant and single. Aymeric is there to support her when she gives birth to Jim, and the trio quickly form a seemingly happy family unit.
After spending many happy years together, Christophe, Jim’s biological father, shows up unexpectedly after a recent tragedy. What sounds like the start of a melodrama turns into the start of an odyssey into family and fatherhood for our protagonist.
Based on the novel by Pierric Bailly, Jim’s Story is a bittersweet comedy drama about the trials and tribulations of parenthood, anchored by a magnificently compassionate performance from lead Karim Leklou, whose empathetic face portrays all the joy and pain of raising a child.
Julie keeps quiet (Julie se tait)
COUNTRIES: Belgium, Sweden, France
LANGUAGES: Dutch, French, German
Co-produced by the Dardenne brothers and premiering to acclaim at Cannes Critics’ Week, Belgian director Leonardo Van Dijl’s debut feature is a tense, haunting character study set at an exclusive Belgian tennis academy that forces us to volley with the truth and read between the lines.
When demanding head coach Jeremy is suspended amidst misconduct allegations, all eyes turn to star pupil Julie, who he has been training in private, away from her parents and the other pupils. Rather than cooperate with the authorities and those around her, this tenacious and promising young athlete chooses to remain silent, processing the upheaval surrounding her on her own terms.
Van Dijl’s sparing and impactful direction gives us, and Julie, the space to draw our own conclusions in quiet moments between intense, impressively staged training sessions and confrontations between Julie and those around her seeking more information. But it is real-life tennis player Tessa Van den Broeck, in her first acting role, who steals the show, holding Julie’s stoicism and vulnerability in her every move.
COUNTRIES: France, Italy
LANGUAGES: French, Latin, English, Italian
Delphine makes a deal with her high school Latin class of five lazy students: if they keep quiet, they’ll all receive A grades without having to learn a thing. This ingenious plan is foiled when, unexpectedly, her class is selected to represent France at the Latin World Championships in Naples…because of their exceptional grades.
To make matters worse, the principal’s overzealous nephew Rodolphe is chosen to accompany her. To save her skin – and the future of the Latin department – they have no other choice but to win the trophy. But how to win when you’ve never studied a word of Latin? Delphine sees only one solution: cheating!
Émilie Noblet’s bright, breezy student-teacher comedy gives a lesson in hilarity, getting huge laughs from its central premise. The unexpected, opposites-attract romance between Delphine and Rodolphe gives it an A+ injection of charm, with lead Louise Bourgoin as a hugely likeable and unapologetic anti-heroine (even if her teaching style is not above board), and Xavier Lacaille as a great romantic foil.
Love Boat (La Petite Vadrouille)
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
See it first at Europa Europa before it comes to Alliance Française French Film Festival
French megastars Daniel Auteuil (La Belle Époque) and Sandrine Kiberlain (November) shine in this playful farce set upon a slow-drifting houseboat from director Bruno Podalydès, whose gift for depicting the foibles of daily life via absurd comedy is on display once again.
Justine, her husband, and their circle of friends find an easy solution to their money problems: they’ll organize a fake romantic cruise for Franck, a wealthy investor, take advantage of his romanticism and naivety, and extract his funds. There’s just one problem: before Justine can even suggest this plan to Franck, he proposes it first.
Justine and her reluctant husband find themselves in a hilarious game of one-upmanship as this motley crew try, and mostly fail, to deceive the clueless and amorous Franck.
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
Mikado and Laetitia lead an alternative lifestyle aboard a van with their homeschooled children, Nuage and Zephir. One day they cross paths with Vincent, whose car has broken down, a chance encounter that will end up changing their carefree lives forever. When Mikado’s van breaks down, Vincent returns the favour by offering his garden as a temporary camping ground. Three weeks in the same place gives this itinerant family a taste of normality: Nuage befriends Vincent’s daughter, and Laetitia seems to enjoy the comfort of a steady home.
Director Baya Kasmi has crafted a beautiful drama about a family living off the grid whose bond is shattered when their seemingly carefree lifestyle is challenged by convention. While all of the lead performances are terrific, it is Félix Moati as the conflicted patriarch Mikado, desperately struggling to hold this once-tight family unit together and feeling the trap of domesticity closing in on him, who gives the film its heartwarming – and heartbreaking – core.
Once upon my mother (Ma Mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan)
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
Told across decades capturing the trials and miracles of life, Once Upon My Mother is the true, funny and moving story of the greatest love there is: that of a mother for her child. Featuring a rich soundtrack of classic songs from French music icon Sylvie Vartan, this vibrant tribute to enduring motherly love is a crowd-pleasing treat.
In 1963, Esther gives birth to Roland, the youngest of a large family. Roland is born with a club foot that prevents him from standing. Against everyone’s advice, she promises her son that he will walk like everyone else and live a full and fabulous life – and she will do everything in her power to keep this promise and help him fulfil this incredible destiny.
Ken Scott has created a colourful, moving and delightful film starring Leïla Bekhti (Paris, je t’aime) as a woman who won’t take no for an answer, and her portrait of maternal love and blind faith is complicated, maddening, destructive and endearing in equal measures.
COUNTRIES: France, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Estonia, Finland
LANGAGES : Russian, Swedish, English
Inspired by real events and tempered by two heartrending performances from Chulpan Khamatova and Grigoriy Dobrygin as parents who must fight to protect their family amidst growing fear, frustration and anger, Alexandros Avranas’ Quiet Life is a chilling, razor-sharp portrait of a bureaucracy that dehumanises the very people it is tasked with helping.
Sweden, 2018. A mysterious syndrome affecting refugee children is sparking concerns among doctors and politicians. Russian teachers Sergei and Natalia have been forced to flee from their native country after an attack that almost took Sergei’s life. They have settled with their two young daughters in Sweden, waiting for the Migration Board to decide on their asylum application. They work hard, send their kids to Swedish school, learn the language, submit themselves to regular inspections from the authorities and hope that one day they will be Swedish citizens. But when their asylum application is rejected, Katja, their youngest daughter falls into a mysterious coma. Faced with a moral dilemma, Sergei and Natalia’s resilience will be tested. Can they summon hope to save their daughters?
COUNTRIES: France, Canada
LANGUAGE: French
Following a medical wake-up call, Montréal copywriter Mathyas abandons his life in Canada to reinvent himself as a sheep herder in the French Alps. After a rough start, he’s joined by Élise, a civil servant tempted by his stories of pastoral life, and together they commit to a summer on the mountainside. Just the two of them. And one border collie. And 800 sheep.
Director Sophie Deraspe makes full use of the majestic vista of the French Alps as her characters are framed by a countryside that is all at once unforgiving, rugged, breathtaking and tranquil. Based on the acclaimed semi-autobiographical novel by Mathyas Lefebure, who also co-wrote the screenplay, Shepherds is a romantic paean to dropping out of the rat race and getting in touch with nature.
COUNTRIES: France, Italy
LANGUAGE: French
See it first at Europa Europa before it comes to Alliance Française French Film Festival
Gianluca Jodice’s The Flood brings the story of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to the big screen in a way quite unlike anything we have seen before. Instead of lavish parties, royal decadence and the splendour of Versailles, we are given a glimpse into a shadowy world where these deposed monarchs are stripped of their power and stature as they await their now famous fate.
French stars Guillame Canet (La Belle Époque) and Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) give blistering performances as the doomed royals, who, isolated and vulnerable for the first time in their privileged lives, have been arrested and imprisoned in the Tour de Temple, a sinister chateau in Paris. Laurent, chipping away at the infamous queen’s veneer of propriety, reveals a quiet vulnerability and growing horror as to what lies ahead.
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
In her debut feature which expands her 2018 short Waiting for Jupiter, Agathe Riedinger casts a critical eye on influencer culture and the damaging hold it can take on young women forced to adhere to unrealistic beauty standards.
Liane, 19, reckless and incandescent, lives with her mother and little sister under the dusty sun in a working-class neighbourhood in Fréjus. As a budding influencer obsessed with beauty, she yearns to become famous and win the approval of her online fans. Destiny finally seems to smile on Liane when she passes a casting for reality TV series, “Miracle Island”, and sees this shot at fame as her chance at stardom. Driven by a magnetic performance from young lead Malou Khebizi, Wild Diamond is a provocative glimpse into the pitfalls of fame.
A TRUFFAUT RETROSPECTIVE AT EUROPA EUROPA FILM FESTIVAL 2025
Europa Europa Film Festival 2025 is also holding a Truffaut retrospective, featuring new 4K restorations of four of his films.
Finally, Sunday! (Vivement dimanche !) (1983)
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGES: French, Albanian
French acting legend Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist) plays a real estate agent suspected of the double murder of his wife and her lover. As circumstantial evidence begins to mount against him, his secretary begins to conduct her own investigation to clear the name of the man she is falling in love with.
Starring the radiant Fanny Ardant, his wife at the time, Truffaut’s rarely-screened swansong is a witty tribute to American crime mysteries, and a joyful ode to the last love of his life.
Shoot the piano player (Tirez sur le pianiste) (1960)
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
In an inspired casting, French crooner Charles Aznavour plays pianist Charlie Kohler. When Charlie’s two older brothers steal money from a pair of gangsters, the mild-mannered pianist finds himself embroiled in the criminal underworld, simultaneously dragging a lovelorn bar waitress into the calamity.
Truffaut wanted to move away from the themes of The 400 Blows and explore his other passion, American gangster films. Finding inspiration in David Goodis’s American crime novel “Down There”, he gave the noir genre a delightfully Nouvelle Vague makeover in what is now considered one of his quintessential masterpieces.
The Soft Skin (La peau douce) (1963)
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGES: French, English, Portuguese
A seemingly happily married father and celebrated literary scholar begins a fateful affair with an air stewardess. Risking everything to spend time with her, he finds himself caught in a web of lies that threatens to destroy his marriage.
Truffaut’s tense infidelity drama pays more than a passing nod to a filmmaker that he admired and emulated: Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, whilst making The Soft Skin Truffaut was working on his now-famous book Hitchcock/Truffaut, and the Master of Suspense’s indelible mark can be felt in its themes of violence and revenge – right down to the cool blonde at the centre of its story.
Two English Girls (Les Deux Anglaises et le Continent) (1971)
COUNTRY: France
LANGUAGE: French
Beginning in Paris in 1902, this grand story of two English sisters is punctuated by separations, journeys, reunions, and deaths, all seen through the eyes of Claude (played by Truffaut avatar Jean-Pierre -Léaud), the French boy who is infatuated with them.
Returning to the work of author Henri-Pierre Roché, who also penned the love triangle drama Jules and Jim, Two English Girls sees Truffaut at his most haunting and romantic. Just before his death in 1984, Truffaut recut the film, adding 20 minutes of footage that many critics agreed gave the film extra depth and greatly improved the original.
CATHERINE DENEUVE IN AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ROLE
Funny Birds (Au fil des saisons)
COUNTRIES: France, Belgium
LANGUAGE: English
In this warm and delightful comedy centred by the irrepressible French icon Catherine Deneuve (Belle de Jour, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, 8 Women), three generations of women find commonality in their radically different ways of living.
Charlie, a student, returns to the family farm in Virginia to help her ailing mother Laura (Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough). They have contrasting visions of life: Charlie studies finance while Laura manages a chicken farm. When Laura’s estranged mother Solange (Deneuve), an eccentric French feminist who left America when her daughter was still a child, suddenly arrives at the farm, these three women who seem to have nothing in common are forced to learn to live peacefully together.
The grande dame of French cinema, Deneuve brings a warm and playful anarchy to her role as the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons. Alongside Riseborough and Morgan Saylor, we watch as these three generations of women navigate the moving and amusing tragicomedy of life.
KEY INFO FOR EUROPA EUROPA FILM FESTIVAL 2025
WHAT: Europa Europa Film Festival 2025
WHERE: Melbourne (Lido Cinemas and Classic Cinemas) and Sydney (Ritz cinemas)
WHEN: 12 February to 12 March 2025
HOW: Purchase your tickets via the links above. If you’re wanting to buy a festival pass (if you’re seeing 10 or more films) in Melbourne it’s via this link and here for Sydney
HOW MUCH: Ticket prices for Europa Europa Film Festival 2025 are as follows:
Individual tickets
Adults $26
Concession and member $21
Group (20+) $16 per person
Special Events: Opening Night, Centrepiece Gala and Special events
Adult $30
Concession and member $25
Festival Passes
10 film pass $170
20 film pass $280
Festival pass (see every film) $462
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What are you planning to see at Europa Europa Film Festival 2025?
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