French Film Festival Shanghai Station kicks off, Isabelle Huppert will attend the meeting

The Shanghai event will kick off on April 12 and last until May 10.

The French Film Festival, hosted by Unifrance and co-organized by the French Embassy in China, has always been an annual feast for Chinese movie fans to enjoy the French screen journey. This year's event is also scheduled this spring. On April 12, the 2025 French Film Festival Shanghai Station will officially set sail, and the famous French actress Isabelle Huppert will also be present at the screening to communicate with the audience.

As part of the "Spring of Sino-French Culture", the French Film Show has been actively promoting French films to Chinese audiences and promoting Sino-French cultural exchanges since its first event in Beijing in 2004. This year's event will start in mid-April and end at the end of June. During this period, ten French masterpieces produced in recent years will be screened in Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming and other cities. Isabelle Huppert was also invited to serve as the publicity ambassador and Chinese actor Zhao Tao as the image ambassador.

From April 12 to May 10, Shanghai will serve as the national first stop for this event, and will start screenings at MOViEMOViE Cinema (Qiantan Taikoo Li Store) and Shanghai Baimeihui Cinema (Jing'an Kerry Center Store). The ten works screened are of different types, themes, and styles, including "The Count of Monte Cristo", a famous novel adaptation that set off a movie-watching boom in France in 2024; "My Marcello", a collaboration between Chiara Mastroianni and Catherine Deneuve, who "resurrected" Marcello Mastroianni on the screen; the highly rated animated films "Mars Express" and "A Heart to Heart" and the topical comedy "Oh My God".

It is worth mentioning that the screening list also includes three works starring Isabelle Huppert, namely "My Crime", "Sidoni of Japan" and "The Prisoner of Bordeaux". She plans to attend the pre-screening meeting held at MOViE MOViE Cinema on April 13. In addition, this Shanghai station has arranged a series of other unique activities, including on April 18, the famous curator and film scholar Marco Muller will attend the post-screening appreciation of the film "My Marcelo"; on April 24, Ximalaya Science Fiction Content Senior Producer Guo Ziying will attend the post-screening exchange of the science fiction animation "Mars Express"; on April 27, French literature expert Yuan Xiaoyi will participate in the "Huppert's 'Here and Now'" themed salon held in Kubrick Bookstore in Shanghai.

Shanghai Station Schedule

Introduction of the ten films to be screened

The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, 2024 )

Director: Alexandre de la Batrier, Mathieu Delaporte

Starring: Pierre Niney, Anaïs Demoustier, Bastien Bouillon

Duration: 178 minutes

Plot summary: In 1815, Edmond Dantès was wrongfully imprisoned within the walls of Marseille. During his long 14-year prison life, he met Father Faria, who not only taught him various knowledge, but also revealed the secret of a huge treasure hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. Dantès carefully planned an escape and transformed himself into the "Count of Monte Cristo" to seek revenge. However, the price of revenge was also heavy for him.

Marcello Mio (2024)

Director: Christophe Honoré

Screenwriter: Christophe Honoré

Starring: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Fabrice Luchini

Duration: 121 minutes

Plot summary: Because of the halo of her father Marcello Mastroianni, actress Chiara Mastroianni is under pressure from all sides, so she decides to "resurrect" her father through her own efforts. She transforms into Marcello, dresses like her father, and asks to be seen as an actor, not an actress. People around her think it's just a short-lived joke, but Chiara is determined not to give up her new identity...

Mars Express (2023)

Director: Jeremy Palin

Voiced by: Léa Deluguet, Mathieu Amalric, Daniel Lorbet, Marie Bouvet

Duration: 88 minutes

Plot summary: In the 23rd century, the Earth is devastated. Humans have moved to Mars and are living in symbiosis with robots. Robots obey human orders, and once they escape, there are only two outcomes: complete freedom or destruction. Private detective Arlene Ruby and her partner Carlos Rivera, a replica of her late partner, are involved in a case of a college student's accidental death while investigating a robot's escape. The two must find out the truth before the mercenaries who are chasing them appear.

Mon Crime (2023)

Director: François Ozon

Starring: Nadia Tereshkovich, Rebecca Made, Isabelle Huppert, Brice Luchini, Danny Boon

Duration: 103 minutes

Plot summary: Producer Montferrand was shot dead at home, and Madeleine, an actress who had visited Montferrand's home and was sexually harassed by him, became the prime suspect. Not only that, but Madeleine also had a pistol. During the police questioning, Madeleine and her good friend, lawyer Pauline, had an idea, and not only did they avoid jail time, they became famous, but the real murderer obviously would not let them go.

The Prisoner of Bordeaux (2024)

Director: Patricia Mazzo

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Afsia Elchinoel Ellasri

Duration: 108 minutes

Plot summary: The film tells the story of an unlikely friendship between two women from very different social backgrounds who visit their husbands in prison. Isabelle Huppert plays Alma, a sophisticated middle-class woman whose husband is in prison for hit-and-run. Afsia Elchi plays Mina, a young Arab immigrant from the suburbs who has to work hard to support her two children when her boyfriend is imprisoned for a robbery.

Animal Kingdom (2023)

Directed by: Thomas Kaye

Starring: Romain Duris, Paul Kircher, Adele Exarchobrou

Duration: 130 minutes

Plot summary: A mutant virus has attacked the world, and people will gradually turn into any kind of animal after getting sick. No one knows the reason and there is no solution. Two years after the first mutations appeared, people gradually adapted and established a special center to receive, care for and treat these people who turned into animals, and provide psychological support to the patients' families. One day, a convoy transporting patients to the new center had an accident on a remote road, and the patients fled in all directions, including Francois' wife. So Francois and his 16-year-old son Emile embarked on a journey to find the virus, and the virus invaded their bodies unknowingly.

Sauvages! (2024)

Director: Claude Barras

Starring: Barbet de Coster, Martin Visette, Lytia Dosch

Duration: 87 minutes

Plot summary: 11-year-old Keria is an urban girl who likes trendy hairstyles and hip-hop music. She lives with her father in the suburbs of a small town in Sarawak Province, Borneo Island. Her mother died when she was very young, and her father told her that her mother was eaten by a leopard...

Sidonie au Japon (2023)

Director: Ellis Girard

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Tsuyoshi Ihara, August Diehl

Duration: 95 minutes

Plot summary: After 40 years, writer Sidonie Percival republishes her first novel and goes to Japan to promote it. There, she is warmly received by the local editor, but she is still lost. However, in the spring days in a foreign country, she seems to be able to finally let go of the past and let herself love again.

The Three Musketeers: Milady (Les Trois Mousquetaires: Milady, 2023)

Director: Martin Bourboulen

Starring: Eva Green, François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Romain Duris, Pio Mamet, Louis Garrel

Duration: 114 minutes

Plot summary: "The Three Musketeers: Milady" follows the plot of the previous "The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan". It tells the story of D'Artagnan who found Constance kidnapped and embarked on a rescue journey. However, he accidentally saved Milady who was suffering from imprisonment on the way, and the two were forced to travel together. With the outbreak of the war, D'Artagnan and his friends followed the French elite musketeers to La Rochelle. On the way, he met Milady again and gradually realized her special mission and the huge conspiracy behind it.

Vingt Dieux (2024)

Director: Louise Courvoisier

Starring: Clément Favor, Myvonne Barthelemy, Luna Garrett, Maximus Bernard

Duration: 90 minutes

Plot summary: 18-year-old Totone spends most of his time having fun with his friends. However, after his father died in a car accident, Totone had to take care of his sister Claire alone. He found a temporary job at a local dairy factory, but was fired because of a conflict with his colleagues. At the same time, he learned about the local cheese selection event, and the winner could receive a prize of 30,000 euros. So, Totone and his friends started their cheese plan.