By Emma W. Barhydt
For more than twenty years, Focus on French Cinema has occupied a distinctive place in the cultural life of Greenwich— steady, discerning, and quietly ambitious. As the festival enters its 21st year, its January–May 2026 season reaffirms what has always set it apart: a belief that film, when carefully chosen and thoughtfully presented, can foster genuine connection across language, geography, and experience
Presented by the Alliance Française of Greenwich, Focus on French Cinema brings newly released, award-winning French-language films to local audiences both in person at the Bruce Museum and online. Many of the titles shown during the festival are U.S. premieres and are not available on commercial streaming platforms, making each screening feel purposeful rather than incidental. All films are presented in French with English subtitles, preserving the cadence and nuance of the original language while remaining accessible to a broad audience.
The 2026 season opens in Greenwich on Sunday, January 11, with Les Musiciens, screening at the Bruce Museum from 2 to 4 pm. Directed by Grégory Magne, the film offers a restrained yet absorbing look at artistic collaboration under pressure. Set largely in rehearsal spaces, Les Musiciens resists theatrical flourish. Instead, it lingers on the tensions between musicians whose talents are undeniable but whose temperaments are not easily aligned. Magne’s direction favors close observation over drama, allowing small gestures and silences to carry weight. Music here is not a shortcut to transcendence but something that must be worked toward, collectively and imperfectly. Seen in a shared setting like the Bruce Museum auditorium, the film’s quiet intensity feels especially resonant.
Beginning January 12 and streaming through January 19, Le Mohican offers a striking tonal shift. Directed by Frédéric Farrucci, the film is set along the rugged Corsican coastline and follows Joseph, one of the island’s last shepherds. When the mafia pressures him to relinquish his land for development, Joseph refuses. The consequences of that refusal drive the film forward, transforming a personal stand into a broader reckoning with power, heritage, and survival.
Le Mohican is spare and deliberate, grounded in Alexis Manenti’s restrained performance and in Farrucci’s attentiveness to landscape. The land is not treated romantically; it is demanding, isolating, and deeply tied to identity. Farrucci avoids moral grandstanding, instead presenting resistance as something costly and lonely. The film’s strength lies in its refusal to simplify, allowing viewers to sit with discomfort and ambiguity long after the final frame.
These opening selections reflect the larger philosophy guiding Focus on French Cinema. Since its founding in 2005, the festival has drawn from across the francophone world, curating a program that includes dramas, documentaries, comedies, and family films. The emphasis has always been on storytelling and craft rather than marketability, introducing audiences to filmmakers at different stages of their careers—established masters alongside emerging voices.
The organization behind the festival remains intentionally hands-on. Led by Managing Director Renée Amory Ketcham and Director of Programming Joe Meyers, with support from a small executive and selection committee, Focus on French Cinema maintains a clear curatorial identity. That consistency has allowed the festival to grow without losing its sense of purpose. Educational initiatives, guest appearances by filmmakers and actors, and post-screening conversations have long been integral to the festival’s structure, extending the films’ impact beyond the screen.
The choice to maintain a hybrid format—offering both in-person and online screenings—reflects a practical openness without sacrificing standards. Watching a film at the Bruce Museum provides the communal experience that cinema was built for, while the online option ensures that distance or scheduling does not become a barrier to participation. In either setting, the films demand attention and reward it.
As Focus on French Cinema enters its third decade, its endurance feels earned. The festival has survived by trusting its audience: trusting that viewers will engage with subtitles, with unfamiliar settings, with stories that move at their own pace. In return, it offers something increasingly rare—films chosen with care, shown with intention, and experienced as part of a shared cultural moment.
Full schedules, passes, and ticketing information for the 21st anniversary season are available at https://focusonfrenchcinema.eventive.org/welcome
