The Richest Woman in the World, starring Isabelle Huppert, will open the 23rd edition of the French Film Festival. The festival will take place from May 6 – 25, 2026, with screenings at the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Herzliya, Sderot, and Holon Cinematheques, as well as at the Annis Cultural Center in Jaffa (consult the cinematheque’s websites for screening times). This year’s program will focus on women, with films directed by women or that are about women – women who struggle, women who are loved, women who are free, women who are creative, women who reject limiting roles, women who are searching for their voices.
Directed by Thierry Klifa, the opening film’s protagonist, Marianne (Isabelle Huppert) – the richest woman in the world, meets Pierre-Alain (Laurent Lafitte), a writer and photographer in Paris, during a photoshoot, and they become inseparable. Their surprising, amusing, and captivating bond sparks conversation and ultimately unsettles Marianne’s close circle—especially her daughter, who struggles with her mother’s sudden relationship with the young man, whose greed knows no bounds. With Isabelle Huppert’s cool, commanding presence and a stellar performance by Laurent Lafitte, the film weaves an elegant psychological drama of power, money, and the deep, universal desire to be loved.
The festival will celebrate a tribute to Brigitte Bardot (1934 – 2025), a woman whose career reflects the changes this past century has seen in women’s status and agency. The festival will screen And God Created Woman (Et Dieu… créa la femme 1956), Roger Vadim’s debut feature and the film that launched Bardot’s international reputation, and inspired Simone de Beauvoir’s essay “Brigitte Bardot and the Lolita Syndrome.” Tribute screenings will also include Jean Luc Goddard’s Contempt (Le Mépris 1963), based on Alberto Moravia’s novel Il disprezzo (The Ghost at Noon 1954).
Closing the festival will be Cedric Klapisch’s Colours of Time. The film follows the lives of cousins who inherit an old house in rural Normandy and retrace the steps of their ancestors in 19th century Paris. Beloved French director Cédric Klapisch invites us on a journey through time in his new film, moving between contemporary Paris and France of the past, at the height of the Impressionist movement and the early days of photography and cinema. Featuring an impressive ensemble cast, breathtaking landscapes of France then and now, and a moving story about family and memory, the film explores the power of the past to shape — and even change — the future.
The selection of films to be screened includes:
At Work, directed by Valérie Donizelli, follows Paul, a successful photographer in his 40s, leaves a stable career to pursue a long-held dream: writing. His wife departs with their children to live abroad, leaving him to face a grueling journey of odd jobs, financial uncertainty, loneliness, and strained relationships. Valérie Donzelli masterfully captures the cost of devotion to art and the ongoing struggle between following one’s heart and surviving in today’s material world.
Love Me Tender, directed by Anna Cazenave Cambet. At the end of one summer, Clémence reveals to her ex-husband that she is romantically involved with women. Her world is upended when he seeks full custody of their son, claiming she is unstable. Forced to undergo numerous social worker evaluations, she must prove she is a capable mother while remaining true to her identity as a free woman. In her second film, writer-director Anna Cazenave Cambet establishes herself as a bold and influential voice in contemporary French cinema.
The Girl in the Snow, directed by Louise Hémon. In 1899, on a stormy winter night, Aimee, a young teacher, arrives in a small village at the foot of the Alps. Despite the villager’s distrust, she determinedly tries to change their strange ways of thinking. Her time in the village awakens a sensual awareness, until an avalanche strikes several villagers. The tensions between the traditional community and her new ideas lie at the heart of a polished period drama, offering a unique cinematic experience for those willing to immerse themselves in it.
The festival is the initiative of Eden Cinema Ltd. and its CEO, Carolyn Boneh, in collaboration with the Institut Francais, Unifrance, and the French Embassy in Israel. Boneh, in collaboration with Guillaume Mainguet, the attaché for cinema and audiovisual affairs at the Institut Francais in Tel Aviv have curated a diverse program of films, culled from the best of current French cinema. Screening dates and times may be found on the cinematheque websites.
*Information on the films provided by PR
