For nearly three months and through 12 iconic films, BAMPFA celebrates the golden age of French film noir with French Noir: From the Shadows into the Light, a major retrospective dedicated to the masterpieces of French crime cinema and noir. From June 4 to August 28, 2026, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive will offer a cinematic journey through poetic realism, melancholic gangsters, nocturnal jazz, and the French New Wave.
From Jean-Pierre Melville to François Truffaut, via Jean-Luc Godard, Louis Malle, Marcel Carné, and René Clément, the program brings together 
some of the greatest classics of French cinema. The festival also reminds us how much the French perspective helped define the very aesthetic of “film noir,” a term coined by French critics to describe American thrillers of the 1940s.
Among the most anticipated titles are Le Samouraï, Le Cercle Rouge, Bob le flambeur, Elevator to the Gallows, Breathless, Purple Noon, and Rififi. Several screenings will be presented in restored 4K versions.
The series will also welcome several special guests, including film historian and critic David Thomson, as well as Laura Truffaut, François Truffaut’s daughter and a Berkeley resident, who will present two of her father’s films: Shoot the Piano Player and Mississippi Mermaid.
Here is part of the program announced by BAMPFA:
- June 4 — Bob the Gambler (Bob le flambeur) by Jean-Pierre Melville
- June 6 — Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud) by Louis Malle
- June 7 — Breathless (À bout de souffle) by Jean-Luc Godard
- June 13 — The Fingerman (Le Doulos) by Jean-Pierre Melville
- June 17 — Le Samouraï (Le Samouraï) by Jean-Pierre Melville
- June 20 — The Red Circle (Le Cercle Rouge) by Jean-Pierre Melville
- June 27 — Rififi (Du rififi chez les hommes) by Jules Dassin
- July 3 — Daybreak (Le Jour se lève) by Marcel Carné
- July 12 — Pierrot the Madman (Pierrot le fou) by Jean-Luc Godard
- July 18 — Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le pianiste) by François Truffaut
- July 24 — Mississippi Mermaid (La Sirène du Mississippi) by François Truffaut
- August 27 — Purple Noon (Plein Soleil) by René Clément
Beyond the most famous titles, the retrospective will also offer a chance to discover rarer works, such as Georges Lautner’s Le Septième Juré and Bertrand Tavernier’s The Clockmaker, seldom screened in the United States.
For lovers of French cinema, the New Wave, and the big-screen experience, this retrospective is already shaping up to be one of the Bay Area’s must-see cultural events of the summer.
French Noir: From the Shadows into the Light
Dates: June 4–August 28, 2026
Address: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) – 2155 Center Street, Berkeley, CA
Tickets: Full program and tickets: bampfa.org
