Young Critics Lab

26 décembre 2025

Les Arcs Film Festival Report

By Tobiasz Dunin

The 17th edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival took place from 13 to 20 December in the snow-covered Alpine resort. In line with its mission to promote contemporary European cinema, the festival combined an enchanting mountain atmosphere with a diverse program. Geneva Airport certainly took its toll on me, but the charm of the location and the event more than made up for it.

It was my first time attending the festival and I was pleasantly surprised by how prominent the guests in attendance were. These included one of the most acclaimed French actresses of her generation, Isabelle Adjani; Tarik Saleh, Swedish director and screenwriter nominated for the Palme d’Or; and Daniel Brühl, German-Spanish actor nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Despite the presence of world-famous stars, the films shown were relatively unknown, with a few exceptions such as Rush (2013), directed by Ron Howard. The program featured more than 100 European films across various sections, with 16 titles being French premieres.

Many of the films in the Premières section focused on interpersonal relationships. Laurent Slama's A Second Life explored the unlikely bond that forms between a hearing-impaired American and a carefree wanderer in Paris during the Olympic Games. Cato Kusters's Julian tells the story of two women who decide to get married in every country where it is legally possible, thereby putting their relationship to the test.

Bérangère McNeese's Les Filles du Ciel presented the fragile bond between Héloïse and Mallorie, while Alice Winocour's Couture depicted the lives of three women from vastly different backgrounds: an American film director, a young South Sudanese model and a French make-up artist.

Other films on this topic included Summer Beats by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret, which premiered at Cannes, depicting two young counselors working at a summer camp for children from Parisian housing estates, and Sukkwan Island by Vladimir de Fontenay, about a father and son spending a year on a remote northern island.

Valérie Donzelli’s At Work focused more on the experiences of an individual, following a successful photographer who abandoned his career to devote himself to writing. The documentary D’un monde à l’autre, directed by Jérémie Renier, is a personal journey of contemplation following the death of the actor’s close friend. Camille Ponsin’s Sauvage tells the story of how the disappearance of a single person can upset the fragile balance of a whole community.

Martin Jauvat’s comedy Overnight Bag provided a break from such difficult topics. The film focuses on Sprite, a cleaning startup employee who spends nights at his dates’ apartments due to his lack of a driving license. The Money Maker, directed by Jean-Paul Salomé, is another light-hearted film, perfect for viewers who enjoy classic storytelling. It tells the story of Jan Bojarski, an engineer who fled Poland and used his extraordinary skills to print counterfeit money.

Political and social issues were also explored in Anthony Dechaux’s La Guerre des prix, in which a woman tries to reconcile her idealism with corporate life, and in Olivier Assayas’ political satire The Wizard of the Kremlin, which examines the rise of Vladimir Putin through the story of a fictional figure named Vadim Baranov. A more serious approach to storytelling is evident in Gaya Jiji's Pieces of a Foreign Life. The film portrays Selma, a Syrian refugee attempting to reunite with her six-year-old son in France. The second documentary in the section, A Place for Her by Mélisa Godet, focuses on a shelter for victims of violence.

By offering audiences a varied selection of accessible films that aren’t arthouse, the 17th Les Arcs Film Festival seemed to me to be an event that caters to more casual viewers. I know from experience that festival programmers often opt for unusual, experimental films, so the safe choices made here were a nice change. As can be seen above, the Premières section featured almost exclusively French productions, although the themes they addressed were diverse and ranged from women’s rights and migration issues to interpersonal relationships. For this reason, the festival appears interested not only in attracting a broad audience, but also in contributing to the dialogue about contemporary social issues. There is something for everyone here – and if not, there’s always skiing!