The Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF48), organized by the California Film Institute, returns for its 48th edition from October 2 to 12, 2025, showcasing a dazzling array of international films, including a robust slate of French and francophone cinema drawn from Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and beyond.
While we are highlighting films with strong French connections—through directors, cast, production, or subject—the festival’s programming spans the globe. The French selection continues to be supported by Villa Albertine.
ARCO by Director Ugo Bienvenu
Produced by Natalie Portman, this visionary animated time-and-space odyssey (winner of Annecy’s top prize) follows young Arco from a cloud-bound Eden to a climate-stressed near future—an all-ages fable with orchestral sweep.
- Sat, Oct 4 • 3:30 PM | The Lark Theater — Family Films
- Sat, Oct 11 • 11:00 AM | Rafael 2
- All details
CALLE MÁLAGA by Director Maryam Touzani
A spirited 74-year-old in Tangier, on the brink of eviction, refuses to surrender her way of life. Touzani crafts a tender, playful celebration of memory, courage, and independence.
CASE 137 by Director Dominik Moll
A crack procedural with Léa Drucker as an IGPN (internal affairs) investigator pursuing abusive cops—measuring the emotional toll of seeking justice.
- Sat, Oct 4 • 7:30 PM | Rafael 2
- Sun, Oct 12 • 7:00 PM | BAMPFA
- All details
HOLA FRIDA by Directors André Kadi & Karine Vézina
An all-ages, bilingual portrait of young Frida Kahlo—imagination and resilience bloom as she recovers from polio and discovers the artist within.
- Wed, Oct 8 • 4:30 PM | Sequoia 2
- Sun, Oct 12 • 11:00 AM | Rafael 3
- All details
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT by Director Jafar Panahi
Panahi’s searing, darkly funny Palme d’Or winner: a mechanic kidnaps a man he’s convinced tortured him, blurring vengeance, identity, and state repression.
- Mon, Oct 6 • 7:00 PM | Rafael 1 Tribute to Jafar Panahi followed by a reception at 9pm
- Sat, Oct 11 • 2:00 PM | BAMPFA
- All details
NOUVELLE VAGUE by Director Richard Linklater
A luminous black-and-white love letter to the birth of the French New Wave—Linklater revisits Paris, 1959, on the eve of Godard’s Breathless. Spotlight on Zoey Deutch.
- Sun, Oct 5 • 7:00 PM | Rafael 1 — followed by a reception at 9pm
- Mon, Oct 6 • 4:00 PM | Rafael 1
- All details
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA by Directors Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser
Years after a witnessed atrocity, a man seizes a chance to confront the perpetrator—a gripping blend of action, dark humor, and political satire.
- Sun, Oct 5 • 6:00 PM | Rafael 3
- Wed, Oct 8 • 12:00 PM | Sequoia 1
- All details
A PRIVATE LIFE by Director Rebecca Zlotowski
Jodie Foster shines as a psychiatrist-turned-amateur sleuth probing a patient’s death in Zlotowski’s genre-bending, zany-charming mystery. Cast : Virginie Efira, Daniel Auteuil, Mathieu Amalric, Vincent Lacoste
- Sat, Oct 4 • 8:00 PM | Sequoia 1
- Fri, Oct 10 • 5:00 PM | Sequoia 1
- All details
PROMISED SKY by Director Erige Sehiri
Three Ivorian women seek a future in Tunisia—an intimate, potent portrait of migration within Africa.
SIRĀT by Director Oliver Laxe
A father crosses the Sahara to find his missing daughter—Laxe’s hypnotic Cannes prizewinner demands the biggest screen possible.
SUMMER BEATS by Directors Lise Akoka &Romane Gueret
Two Parisian teens spend a transformative summer as camp counselors—friendships deepen, identities blossom, and messy radiance ensues.
If you are new to MVFF: tickets sell out quickly—general public sales & info here.
MVFF48 Bay Area Screening Venues:
SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER — 1118 4th St, San Rafael
SEQUOIA CINEMA — 25 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley
OUTDOOR ART CLUB — 1 Blithedale Ave, Mill Valley
THE LARK — 549 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur
BAMPFA — 2155 Center St, Berkeley
Merci, Mill Valley Film Festival. Merci, California Film Institute!
