France’s summer 2026 cinema festivals draw crowds across regions

The 54th La Rochelle Cinéma festival runs from 26 June to 5 July 2026, presenting retrospectives for directors Dag Johan Haugerud, Cristian Mungiu, Jacques Tati and others, alongside new French work.

On 19 August 2026 the town of Doué‑en‑Anjou hosts the travelling short‑film festival Le Plein de Super, showing a diverse slate of international shorts before each screening.

From 28 June to 1 July, the national Fête du cinéma offers all‑France tickets for €5, featuring ten African and Caribbean titles selected by Cinewax and UGC and accompanied by filmmaker talks.

Blois’s Les Lobis program runs 27 June – 1 September, screening ten classic films by genre, opening with Back to the Future and adding a post‑screening quiz for audiences.

Châteaubourg’s Étoile cinéma presents a free outdoor showing of Intouchables on 27 June, drawing families to the town park.

The Vieux‑Lyon European film festival takes place 20 – 24 July in the courtyard of Palais Saint‑Jean, free to the public and sponsored by actor‑director Olivier Marchal.

On 27 June several French CGR cinemas debut the anime feature Bleach : Thousand‑Year Blood War – The Calamity, with a special midnight screening at Paris’s Grand Rex.