At MIFF 2025, French is found in a wide spectrum of multilingual films, revealing the intersections of language, identity, and global storytelling. We’ve told you about the French films in French, and the Chantal Akerman retrospective in previous articles. In this article, we explore international co-productions featuring French among the spoken languages that are coming to MIFF 2025.
MIFF 2025 audiences will encounter powerful stories of memory, identity, community, and resilience—whether through Robin Campillo’s queer coming-of-age tale Enzo, Erige Sehiri’s exploration of generational trauma and solidarity in Promised Sky, or the genre-bending homage by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani in Reflection in a Dead Diamond. But these films don’t just explore weighty and reflective themes. They also offer moments of playfulness, romance, adventure, and unexpected humour, from genre pastiches and charming reunions to energetic celebrations of youth and creativity.
Notable directors include established auteurs like Campillo and Sehiri alongside rising talents and risk-takers. These films delve into the legacies of cinematic masters (All I Had Was Nothingness), lived experiences in conflict zones (Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk), and poetic meditations on belonging and the future (Common Pear, Hanami). Whether set in Gaza, Melbourne, Paris, or a climate-ravaged future, they showcase French as a bridge within cinema’s ongoing global conversation, where multiple languages, cultures, and forms come together to tell stories that resonate universally.
Read on to discover the films.
9 MULTILINGUAL FILMS FROM FRANCE AT MIFF 2025
These are multilingual international co-productions involving France or a Francophone country, with French as one of the spoken languages.
Director: Guillaume Ribot
Countries: France
Languages: English, French, German, Polish, Hebrew
Four decades after the release of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah this contemporary reflections shines light on the formidable documentary’s making and legacy
Director: Robin Campillo
Countries: France, Italy, Belgium
Languages: French, Ukranian
Robin Campillo directs a sensual queer coming-of-age tale of a bourgeois French teen and the Ukrainian labourer who shakes up his world
Director: Petra Volpe
Countries: Germany, Switzerland
Languages: French, Turkish, German
In this nerve-wracking hospital drama, an overworked nurse makes a fateful mistake that ups the ante on an already frenetic night.
Director: Erige Sehiri
Countries: France, Qatar, Tunisia
Languages: French, Arabic
Opening Un Certain Regard at Cannes, rising French-Tunisian auteur Erige Sehiri’s drama is a lively poignant story of women creating community.
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
Director: Sepideh Farsi
Countries: France, Iran, Palestine
Languages: English, French, Arabic
An inspiring portrait of Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona, whose defiant images of life in Gaza bring both hope and tragic consequences.
Reflection in a Dead Diamond/Reflet dans un diamant mort
Director: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani
Countries: France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg
Languages: English, French, Italian
The filmmakers behind Let the Corpses Tan (MIFF 2018) bring a touch of Dario Argento’s brutally surreal aesthetic to their homage to 60s-Bond-style sexy spy thrillers
Director: Olivier Laxe
Countries: France, Spain
Languages: Spanish, French
Fresh from winning bountiful acclaim and the Jury Prize at Cannes, this rave-at-the-end-of-the-world opus is an unforgettable one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
Director: Maja-Ajima Yde Zellama
Country: Belgium
Languages: French, Arabic, Dutch
A young girl wrestles with her Tunisian heritage as she grieves the loss of her beloved adult brother.
Director: Andrei Ujică
Countries: France, Romania
Languages: English, French, German
In this form-defying documentary, immerse yourself in the heady optimism of being young in New York on a day when The Beatles seemed to herald a thrilling future.
7 MULTILINGUAL FILMS FEATURING FRENCH NOT FROM THE FRANCOPHONIE AT MIFF 2025
These are multilingual international co-productions not involving France or a Francophone country, with French as one of the spoken languages.
SHORT FILM
Director: Gregor Božič
Countries: UK, Slovenia
Languages: English, French, Italian, Slovenian
In a climate-ravaged future, a team of scientists analyse footage of farmers from the past, hoping to understand their emotional connection to the land.
Director: Sophie Somerville
Country: Australia
Languages :English, French
Estranged mates get lost in Melbourne and fall back in love with one another in this lifting Indie ode to the city and slacker cinema.
Director: Denise Fernandes
Countries: Portugal, Switzerland, Cape Verde
Languages: English, Japanese, French, Cape Verdean Creole
Cape Verdean filmmaker Denise Fernandes’ striking debut feature is a poetic meditation on belonging and becoming.
Director: Eve Liu
Country: USA
Languages: English, Japanese, French, Mandarin
Exeutive-produced by Spike Lee, Chinese-Australian filmmaker Eve Liu’s electrifying short catches the livewire chaos of two young filmmakers out to make it in the big city.
Director: Carla Simón
Countries: Germany, Spain
Languages: Spanish, French, Galician, Catalan
Rising auteur Carla Simón’s Cannes Competition stand-out is a poignant coming-of-age tale interrogating hidden family history.
Director: Wim Wenders
Country: West Germany
Languages: English, French, German
Restored in vivid 4K, this legendary document of an artform in transition is a relevant now as it was in 1982.
Director: Kristina Kraskov
Country: Australia
Languages: English, Spanish, French, Greek
Six people from around the globe channel their dreams into a competition with a different: a test of their elite mastery of Microsoft Excel.
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KEY INFO FOR MIFF 2025
WHAT: Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 (MIFF 2025)
WHERE: Various cinemas in Melbourne
WHEN: 7 to 24 August 2025
HOW: Purchase your tickets to the films via the links above. You can purchase your MIFF Multi passes via this link
HOW MUCH: If you’re planning on seeing more than one film, or even going to one film with a few people, you may find the Multi passes to be good value.
Individual tickets
Full $28
Concession $25.20
Group of 10+ $23.80 each
BlakTix $14
Multipass-3
Full price: $79.80
Concession: $71.90
MIFF Members: $67.90
Multipass-6
Full price: $151.20
Concession: 136.10
MIFF Members $128.60
Multipass-12
Full price: 285.60
Concession: $257.10
MIFF Members $242.80
Festival Passport
A single ticket to every standard session at MIFF 2025. It’s available exclusively as part of a Deluxe Membership. A Deluxe Membership costs $650.
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Which films are you planning to see at MIFF 2025?
MORE MIFF 2025 CONTENT
13 films in French from France and the Francophonie coming to MIFF 2025
A Chantal Akerman retrospective is coming to Melbourne International Film Festival 2025 this August
