Adventures in Cinema Programme Brings French Film to Young Audiences

With the support of Adventures in Cinema through Film Hub Scotland the French Film Festival UK offers a programme of four films that will allow children and young people to experience the fun and thrill of the big screen, and to enjoy a wider range of film culture.

Under Screen Culture 2033, the BFI Film Audience Network recognises how important early cinema visits are for the health of the cinema sector, broadening its focus to include both children and young people. The organisers of the French Film Festival UK fully support these aims.

The Festival will utilise this support to continue its work with children and young people (aged up to 18) to enable them to regularly experience the thrill of watching films in a cinema environment. By engaging with children, families and young people, we anticipate introducing new audiences and fostering future generations of cinemagoers.

If you are involved in children’s activities, clubs for young people or the education sector and would like to organise a group trip to your local cinema to see any of the films in the Programme contact us to help organise your visit. Or if you already have links with your cinema then ask them to liaise with us on the films.

The diverse programme includes a rumbustious animation about that great American frontierswoman Calamity Jane, an inspiring tale about a gifted musician entering the male arena of orchestral conducting, a documentary about the power of dance and stories of derring-do and romance triumphing against the odds.

The Adventures in Cinema Programme in Cinemas is in addition to the Festival’s well-established Screenings in Schools initiative. All films are in French with English subtitles.

Vive le cinéma!

Dear Programmer

The French Film Festival UK has joined forces with Dartmouth Films for their release of the stunning documentary Whispers in the Woods, directed by Vincent Munier. It is available for booking on DCP on standard preview terms 40/60 per cent in the exhibitor’s favour with a £100 MG applied per site. The film will be part of the official selection in the Showcase strand and feature in the Festival’s printed and electronic brochure as well as on socials.

Previews are available for booking between 6 and 12 November inclusive and thereafter as part of the release. Please request a screener and other marketing materials including evocative stills and an English language press kit. The Festival dates run from 4 November to 10 December. The film scored more than one million spectators in French cinemas.

Screeners and booking line:

“When I go into a school to meet children and see the look in their eyes after they’ve seen a film or a photo, I understand why I carry on. Lots of them tell me that their lives changed after watching a film, or reading a book or an article. That feedback, particularly from the young, is precious. They give me the strength to go on.”

Director Vincent Munier

Whispers in the Woods / Le Chant des Forêts

CERTIFICATE U

Delving deep into the woodland realms, where lynxes, bears, deer , owls, capercaillies, and other river creatures roam, wildlife photographer and filmmaker Vincent Munier (The Velvet Queen) not only seeks to pay tribute once again to the visual splendour of nature but also to capture the forest’s poetic sounds. The whispers of the woods are echoing the whispers passed from Munier’s father to himself, and now to his own son. This becomes a heartfelt declaration of Munier’s love for his father , intertwining familial bonds with the untamed beauty of the natural world.

It won the Best Documentary César in the 2026 round of the French “Oscars” as well as a César for best sound.

Director Vincent Munier I France I 2025 I 90 mins I UK distributor Dartmouth Films

The most successful French documentary at the French box office since Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent’s T omorrow in 2015, which had 1.5 million spectators, and before that Luc Jacquet’s March of the Penguins in 2005, with 1.8 million.

The French Film Festival UK 2026 Programme of films for primary and secondary school screenings is here and available for booking.

Dear Programmers

In tandem with IFCinéma and with the support of Screen Scotland, the organisers of the 2026 French Film Festival UK have compiled an Early Bird Selection which is now available for booking – directly with the festival. The titles (all films in French with English subtitles) will also form part of the festival’s main programme when full details are revealed later in the year. There’s an appealing mix of heart-warming dramas, sumptuous costume epics, comedy, animation, documentary, new talents, Cannes connections, festival favourites and two classics by masters Claude Chabrol and Jean Grémillon.

The formats are Blu-ray, DCP or direct download and are flagged on the attached notes. Titles can be reserved for the period 16 October to 10 December 2026 inclusive. The festival also will also supply supporting material including hi-res images, trailers and press packs where available.

THE DREAM TEAM who will shape, guide and lead the French Film Festival UK going forward.

The newly revitalised Board of Trustees held their first meeting, graciously hosted at the Institut français d’Ecosse in the thick of myriad temptations of Edinburgh Festivals. The team focus remained sharp: with this year’s 31st edition due to take place from 1 November to 14 December 2023 the heat is on but the new incumbents look forward to delivering another exciting, diverse and challenging array of Francophone cinema.

The team are:

• Debora Kayembe, Rector, University of Edinburgh, chair
• Cédric Moreau, Senior Teaching Fellow, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, vice-chair
• Emma Mortimore Marketing & Development Manager, Edinburgh Queen’s Hall
• Liz Chege, Festival Director, Africa in Motion Film Festival
• Thomas Chaurin, Director of Languages for All, University of Edinburgh Centre for Open Learning
• Richard Mowe, director and co-founder FFF UK, secretary
• Sylvia Davidson, Head of International Liaison and Education Programme.