Harmony/Harmonie French Film Festival
What helps us connect with others? How can we overcome disconnection and discord? How can we live in harmony with one another and nature? Six French films explore these questions across a number of times, places, and genres.
About the Festival
Thanks to an Albertine Cinémathèque grant from Villa Albertine, the Cultural Services of the French Consulate, we are delighted to screen six French films on campus. Selected by an interdisciplinary committee, the films showcase the richness of French cinema and encourage cross-cultural dialogue. The festival offers the USA community a chance to share French cinema while exploring new perspectives on culture and storytelling. The films are free and open to the public, but not all films may be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
Films and Schedule
Tuesday, September 15 6PM - Humanities Building 160
Arco
In this animated adventure from 2025, a little girl called Iris meets Arco, a mysterious boy in a rainbow suit who falls from the sky. Arco who comes from an idyllic far future where time travel is possible. Ugo Bienvenu's charming story of friendship and cooperation was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Co-sponsored by the USA Animation Association
Learn more and view the trailer here
Wednesday, September 23 6PM - Student Center 203
Souleymane's Story (L'Histoire de Souleymane)
A Paris food delivery cyclist and asylum seeker named Souleymane has two days to prepare his story for a make-or-break interview to secure legal residency. Boris Lojkine's 2024 drama shows a gritty side of Paris and raises issues of friendship, security, and precarity in contemporary France.
Co-sponsored by the Alliance Française of Mobile
Learn more and view the trailer here
Thursday, September 24 6PM - USA Honor's College Seamen's Bethel
The Girl in the Snow (L'Engloutie)
One stormy night in the late 1800s, a young woman hired as a teacher for the winter arrives in a remote Alpine village. Soon after, an avalanche engulfs a young mountain dweller, and men start disappearing… Part period piece, part folk horror, part mystery, Louise Hémon's critically acclaimed 2025 film is a must-watch drama. Screen Daily calls it "a film of both style and substance," while The Film Verdict says audiences are in for "an intoxicating experience."
Co-Sponsored by the USA Honors College
Learn more and view the trailer here
Wednesday, November 18 6PM - Student Center Terrace
Resurrection (Résurrection)
Winner of the Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize in 2025, Director Bi Gan's science fiction masterpiece Resurrection has been praised for its spectacular visuals. Set in a world where people have discovered that they can live forever, as long as they do not dream, Resurrection follows a dissident dreamer known as the Fantasmer (Jackson Yee), who chooses the dream world at the cost of his life. Dr. Becky McLaughlin will introduce the film.
Co-sponsored by the USA Film Society
Learn more and view the trailer here
Thursday, November 19, 6PM - Humanities 160
The Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf)
Léos Carax's 1991 classic stars international sensation Juliette Binoche in one of her most memorable roles. She plays Michèle, a woman losing her sight, who forms a relationship with Alex (Denis Lavant), while sleeping rough on Paris’s Pont-Neuf bridge.
Co-sponsored by the Phi Sigma Iota Honor Society
Learn more and view the trailer here
January 2027 TBA
The Marching Band (En Fanfare)
A world-famous orchestra conductor and a blue-collar cafeteria worker discover they are brothers who were separated at birth in Emmanuel Courcol's enchanting 2024 comedy. Despite their differences, they develop a bond through their mutual love of music. A Cannes premiere and Audience Award Winner at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema.
Learn more and view the trailer here
Our Sponsors
Villa Albertine, USA Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature, Alliance Française of Mobile, USA Honor's College, Phi Sigma Iota Honor Society, USA Film Society.
Albertine Cinémathèque is part of the French for All initiative by Villa Albertine and Albertine Foundation and is made possible by the support of the Centre National du Cinema et de l’Image Animée (CNC).
Special Thanks
To Caroline Demers and Kenzie Price, Modern Languages students, who have worked as the festival's intern. Caroline helped with the grant proposal, design ideas, and communication. Kenzie designed the poster, the social media assets, and other marketing materials. They both assisted with many and varied tasks to make the festival a success.
To Alyxandria Hicks, Zoya Khan, Julien Lartigue, Sondra Maniatis, Doug Marshall, Carole Mortier, Alex Saint-Paul, Eleanor ter Horst, Sarah Waddell, and Andrzej Wierzbicki for your material and moral support.
Film Festival Selection Committee
Pat Cesarini, Susan McCready, Becky McLaughlin, Trent Parrish, and Max Romanowski
Talk Back : Audience Response Form