Nature & Environment – The American French Film Festival in Los Angeles https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org The American French Film Festival in Los Angeles Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:12:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 SILENT FRIEND ../../../silent-friend/ Sun, 11 Jan 2026 15:01:23 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=25736

COMING SOON TO THEATERS BEFORE A DIGITAL RELEASE.

SILENT FRIEND

| 2026 – 147′ –  A Germany/France/Hungary Co-Production. Drama, Nature & Environment, Women Directors, Co-Produced by France.
Written by: Ildiko Enyedi.
Directed by: Ildiko Enyedi.
Starring: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Léa Seydoux, Luna Wedler, Enzo Brumm, Martin Wuttke, Johannes Hegemann, Rainer Bock, Sylvester Groth.
Official Selections: Venice International Film Festival 2025 (Winner of 5 awards), Toronto International Film Festival 2025.
In German and Cantonese with English subtitles. In English.
A Mubi release. |

On the grounds of a medieval German university town looms an imposing Ginkgo biloba, a tree whose longevity stands in marked contrast to three intimate, human-scaled stories. In 1908, the university’s first female student gains admission into the prestigious botany department, confronting the sexism of both professors and peers. In 1972, amidst counterculture movements, a reserved student finds his attention captured by a fellow housemate and the geranium plant she studies. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a neuroscientist from Hong Kong secures the help of a renowned botanist for an experiment on the old ginkgo tree.

 

 

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PRISON ISLAND ../../../prison-island/ Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:29:51 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=23638

PRISON ISLAND

| 2025  – 6 x 52′ – Series – Drama, Crime, Thriller, Women Directors, Nature & Environment.
Created by: Michel Bussy.
Written by: Michel Bussy, Christian Clères.
Directed by: Elsa Bennett, Hippolyte Dard.
Starring: Pierre Perrier, Lannick Gautry, Margot Bancilhon, Kévin Azaïs, Anouk Grimberg, Déborah François, Antoine Duléry, Jane Cara.
In French with English subtitles.
A Walter Presents / PBS Masterpiece release. |

On an island in Brittany, an invading army of 20 environmental activists holds the locals hostage. Their leader has planned for everything–except five ferry passengers who evade capture. 

Watch now

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TWO BROTHERS ../../../two-brothers/ ../../../two-brothers/#respond Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:15:35 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=22809

TWO BROTHERS

| 2004  – 109′ – Drama, Adventure, Nature & Environment, Family 10+.
Written by: Alain Godard, Jean-Jacques Annaud.
Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud.
Starring: Guy Pearce, Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Freddie Highmore, Moussa Maaskri, Oanh Nguyen, Bernard Flavien, Annop Vorapanya.
2 César Awards nominations 2005, including Best Cinematography. Winner: Best Editing.
In English.
A Universal release. |


Set not so long ago in a distant land, the film follows the adventures of twin tiger cubs–one shy and gentle, the other bold and fierce–who are born among the temple ruins of an exotic jungle. However, on a fateful day, the brothers are separated by fate. The bold brother is sold off to a circus, where homesickness and living in a cage rob him of his spirit. Meanwhile, the shy cub becomes the beloved companion of the governor’s lonely young son, until an accident forces the family to give him away to a man who resolves to break his gentle nature and turn him into a fighter for sport. When they are fully grown the brothers find themselves reunited–but as forced enemies, pitted against each other.

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THE BEAR ../../../the-bear/ ../../../the-bear/#respond Mon, 30 Jun 2025 13:34:58 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=22722

THE BEAR

| 1989  – 100′ – Drama, Adventure, Classic, Nature & Environment, Family 10+.
Written by: Gérard Brach.
Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud.
Starring: Tchéky Karyo, Jack Wallace, André Lacombe.
Academy Award Nomination 1989 for Best Editing. 5 César Awards nominations 1989, including Best Film & Best Director (Winner Best Director and Best Editing).
In English.
A Shout! Factory release. |

An infant bear cub witnesses the death of his mother in a rockslide and is forced to set out to fend for himself. The young bear encounters a giant grizzly (Bart the Bear), who at first cannot abide the young bear’s presence. However, the grizzly is soon ambushed by a pair of hunters — Bill (Jack Wallace) and Tom (Tcheky Karyo) — after an altercation with their pack animals. As the injured beast cleans his wounds in a stream, the young bear comes to his aid, and the giant takes the youngster under his wing. However, Bill and Tom have sworn revenge on the grizzly, and when they capture the young bear, it lures the giant back into the hunters’ camp.

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THE BIG BLUE ../../../the-big-blue/ ../../../the-big-blue/#respond Tue, 17 Jun 2025 18:46:23 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=22547

THE BIG BLUE


| 1988 – 168′ – Adventures, Drama, Romance, Sport, Nature & Environment, Classic.
Written by: Luc Besson, Robert Garland, Marilyn Goldin, Marc Perrier, Jacques Mayol.
Directed by: Luc Besson.
Starring: Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno, Rosanna Arquette, Jean Bouise, Paul Shenar, Sergio Castellitto, Griffin Dune, Marc Duret, Kimberly Beck.
Official Selection Cannes International Film Festival 1988. 8 César Awards nominations (1989). Winner 2 César Awards.
In English.
An Itala release. |


Luc Besson’s director’s cut The Big Blue charts the competition and friendship of real-life champions Jacques Mayol (played by Barr) and Enzo Maiorca (renamed in the film to “Enzo Molinari”, and played by Reno). However the divers were not close in age in real life (four years apart) and did not compete. The action is divided into two timelines – the nascent rivalry between the two divers as children, and (as adults) their final competition at the world free-diving championships at the Sicilian town of Taormina. Mayol’s search for love, family, “wholeness” and the meaning of life and death is a strong undercurrent of the latter timeline.

WATCH NOW

 

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ACID ../../../acid/ Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:07:26 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=21408

ACID

| 2023 – 99′ – Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Nature & Environment.
Written by: Just Philippot, Yacine Badday.
Directed by: Just Philippot.
Starring: Guillaume Canet, Laetitia Dosch, Patience Munchenbach, Marie Jung, Martin Verset, Suliane Brahim, Clément Bresson, Pascal Parmentier, Soufiane Menouni, Michaël Perez.
Official Selection Cannes International Film Festival 2023.
In French with English subtitles.
A Under The Milky Way release. |

 

During a heatwave, strange clouds start pouring down acid rain, wreaking devastation and panic throughout France. In a world teetering on the edge, a girl and her divorced parents must join forces to confront and try to escape this climate catastrophe.

WATCH NOW

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ANTARCTICA: ICE & SKY ../../../antarctica-ice-sky/ ../../../antarctica-ice-sky/#comments Fri, 07 Feb 2025 21:46:51 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=21285

ANTARCTICA: ICE & SKY

| 2017 – 89′ – Documentary, Family 10+, Nature & Environment.
Written by: Luc Jacquet.
Directed by: Luc Jacquet.
Starring: Claude Lorius.
Official Selection Cannes International Film Festival 2015 (Closing Film).
Official Competition COLCOA 2016.
In French with English subtitles.
A Music Box Films release. |

The writer/director of the Oscar-winning March of the Penguins is back, this time with a documentary suggesting that penguins should be very afraid, and they’re not the only ones. Part biography, part call-to-arms, this spectacular documentary celebrates the remarkable adventures and scientific discoveries of French polar explorer and glaciologist Claude Lorius.  Sixty years ago, Lorius answered an ad that would take him on such a long expedition in remote Antarctica that his appendix and wisdom teeth had to be removed just as a precaution. Rare and stunning archival footage captures the hardships and wonders of his more than twenty expeditions since then. During these expeditions, Lorius conducted experiments that, for the first time, revealed to the world the cold hard facts about climate change. For Lorius, a man who literally risked his life in the quest for knowledge, it’s the climate change deniers who are walking on thin ice.

WATCH NOW

 

 

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SURVIVE ../../../survive-2/ Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:48:44 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=20052

SURVIVE

| 2025 – 90′  – Horror, Adventure, Fantasy, Nature & Environment.
Written by: Matt Alexander.
Directed by: Frédéric Jardin.
Starring: Émilie Dequenne, Andreas Pietschmann, Lisa Delamar, Lucas Ebel, Arben Bajraktaraj, Olivier Ho Hio Hen, Simon Rérolle.
Official Competition TAFFF 2024 (North American Premiere).
In French with English subtitles.
A Samuel Goldwyn Films release. |

Since its formation, the Earth has experienced five mass extinctions. The sixth is just beginning… when Julia, Tom and their two kids celebrate their son’s 13th birthday on a boat in the middle of the ocean. In the midst of the festivities, a brutal storm rises, nearly capsizing the boat. The family awakens to find itself on a ravaged desert landscape. It seems the Earth has undergone an inconceivable reversal of its magnetic poles, literally draining water from the oceans. Danger lurks everywhere in this post-apocalyptic world, where crazed humans and hungry creatures from the abyss forage for human flesh, and a family must fight for its survival. Because when the poles reverse again, it will be too late.

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WINGED MIGRATION ../../../winged-migration/ ../../../winged-migration/#comments Mon, 12 Aug 2024 15:43:29 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=17600

WINGED MIGRATION

| 2003 – 98′ –  Documentary, Nature & Environment.
Written by: Jacques Perrin.
Directed by: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats.
Academy Awards 2003 Nomination for Best Documentary.
In English or in French with English subtitles.
A Sony Pictures Classics release. |

 

This documentary presents an epic portrait of winter bird migration. Filmed on all seven continents over four years, the footage is brought together into one portrait of a journey that’s uniformly arduous for all kinds of different birds. Rather than concentrating on statistics and facts, the film near-wordlessly portrays the sheer physical effort demanded of the birds on their disparate routes. Along the way, we see the many dangers they face, from man-made waste to a group of hungry crab.

 

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OCEANS ../../../oceans/ ../../../oceans/#respond Mon, 29 Jul 2024 19:17:07 +0000 https://theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/?p=17451

OCEANS

| 2010 – 104′ – Documentary, Nature & Environment.
Written by: Jacques Perrin, Christophe Cheysson, Jacques Cluzaud, John Colee, François Sarano, Laurent Debas, Stéphane Durand.
Directed by: Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud.
Starring: Jacques Perrin, Lancelot Perrin, Pierce Brosnan (Narrator), Matthias Brandt (Narrator), Manolo Garcia 
(Narrator).
Winner Best Documentary, César Awards 2011.
In English.
A Walt Disney release. |

Most of the Earth’s surface is covered by water; using the latest technology, filmmakers Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud set out to explore the underwater world. Diving deep into the waters that ultimately sustain all life on Earth, Perrin and Cluzaud capture spectacular footage of the amazing beauty and harsh reality of life beneath the waves.

 

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