2026 FESTIVAL CHAMPLAIN PROGRAM
- The only French-language film festival in Maine –
CELEBRATING OUR 5TH ANNIVERSARY
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DU MAINE
All screenings at the Portland Museum of Art
2026 Film Schedule
Thursday October 15
2:15 PM - 4:23 PM
Afrōtopia (2025, Gabon)
By David Mboussou with Tiss Waren Mombo, Marcel Sandja, Jean-Claude M’Paka
128 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Ezekiel, a 25-year-old aspiring filmmaker, lives in the heart of the Congo Basin under the authority of his father, Maurice, a powerful businessman who opposes his artistic ambitions. When Ezekiel is forced to join the family logging business, he discovers that Maurice plans to exploit a sacred forest, the last refuge of an indigenous community. As he uncovers a buried colonial-era family secret, Ezekiel must choose between loyalty, personal freedom, and the fate of his people. Blending tradition and modernity to portray contemporary, cross-cultural Africa, Franco-Gabonese filmmaker David Mboussou’s “ecological manifesto” embraces the healing of historical wounds and explores the stigmatization of African cultures, the sacred link between people, nature, and spirit, and the resilience that shapes our future.
5:30 PM - 7:34 PM
La Venue de l’Avenir (Colors of Time) (2025, France)
By Cédric Klapisch with Suzanne Lindon, Abraham Wapler, Vincent Macaigne,
124 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Brought together by the unexpected inheritance of an abandoned house in rural Normandy, four cousins discover they share a mysterious family history. In 1895, their ancestor Adèle, then aged 21, leaves her hometown to search for her mother in Paris. She discovers a city on the cusp of modernity, bustling with new-found avant-garde creativity, with the rise of photography and the birth of Impressionist painting. As her descendants retrace her steps, they unravel Adèle's surprising past. The two timelines of 1895 and 2024 intertwine and collide, confronting the cousins’ contemporary attitudes with life in late 19th century Paris, leaving everyone’s future forever changed.
7:35 PM – 8:30 PM
SPECIAL POST-SCREENING EVENT: A CONVERSATION WITH ANDREW ESCHELBACHER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND HEAD OF ART AND EXHIBITIONS AT THE PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART
The screening will be followed by a conversation with Andrew Eschelbacher, Deputy Director and Head of Art and Exhibitions at the Portland Museum of Art. Inspired by the film’s exploration of art, time, and the ways we see the past through the present, Andrew will draw on works from the Museum’s collection to lead us through a fascinating look at how art evolves—and how our understanding of it changes along the way. It’s a chance to see the film through a new lens—and to discover connections between the story on screen and the art hanging on the walls of Maine’s premier art museums.
Friday October 16
11 AM - 1:04 PM (Student Screening)
La Venue de l’Avenir (Colors of Time) (2025, France)
By Cédric Klapisch with Suzanne Lindon, Abraham Wapler, Vincent Macaigne,
124 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Brought together by the unexpected inheritance of an abandoned house in rural Normandy, four cousins discover they share a mysterious family history. In 1895, their ancestor Adèle, then aged 21, leaves her hometown to search for her mother in Paris. She discovers a city on the cusp of modernity, bustling with new-found avant-garde creativity, with the rise of photography and the birth of Impressionist painting. As her descendants retrace her steps, they unravel Adèle's surprising past. The two timelines of 1895 and 2024 intertwine and collide, confronting the cousins’ contemporary attitudes with life in late 19th century Paris, leaving everyone’s future forever changed.
2 PM – 3:35 PM
Promis Le Ciel (Promised Sky) (2025, Tunisia)
By Erige Sehiri with Aïssa Maïga, Laetitia Ky, and Debora Lobe Naney
92 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Marie, an Ivorian pastor and former journalist, has lived in Tunisia for ten years. Her home becomes a refuge for Naney, a young mother seeking a better future, and Jolie, a strong-willed student carrying her family’s hopes. The arrival of a little orphan girl challenges their sense of solidarity in a tense social climate, revealing both their fragility and strength. A powerful and deeply human film that deftly addresses issues affecting people around the world, including in Maine.
4:00 PM – 6:38 PM
Maria Chapdelaine (2021, Canada)
By Sébastien Pilote with Sara Montpetit, Sébastien Ricard and Hélène Florent
158 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Maria Chapdelaine is a young sixteen-year-old girl who lives with her family on the shores of the Peribonka River in rural Quebec in the 1910s. The Chapdelaine family works tirelessly to push the limits of the forest. Where the harshness of everyday life meets the delicacy of a warm family life, the strong and hopeful Maria finds herself faced with daunting dilemmas. Between tradition, territory, family and love, young Maria is pushed into the real world and will suddenly have to choose her future as a woman.
Adapted from Louis Hémon’s classic 1913 novel.
6:45PM – 8:00 PM
SPECIAL POST-SCREENING EVENT: MEET THE DIRECTOR SÉBASTIEN PILOTE
Directly following the projection, we will welcome movie director Sébastien Pilote onto the screen for a virtual conversation about the making of this beautiful film. We'll hear his thoughts about bring this classic work of literature to the big screen and the challenges he faced in doing so. Special thanks to our friends at the Délégation de Québec à Boston for making this happen!
Saturday October 17
11AM-12:30PM
Tous Toqués (All Stirred Up!) (2024, Canada)
By Manon Briand with Julie Le Breton, Édouard Baer, Élodie Fontaine
90 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
A MOVIE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
Overview: Sonia is an intractable Canadian Customs border agent who confiscates the contents of a car being driven by French chef Victor, only to subsequently need his help when her daughter Lili-Beth decides to enter a cooking competition despite barely knowing how to cook. To make matters worse, Victor must face the hostility of the entire village towards Sonia, who has managed to rub everyone the wrong way.
4:00 PM – 5:42 PM
Ma Mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan (Once Upon My Mother) (2025, France)
By Ken Scott, with Leïla Bekhti, Jonathan Cohen, Joséphine Japy and Sylvie Vartan
132 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Esther Perez is a Moroccan-Jewish immigrant and devoted mother of six. When her newborn son Roland is diagnosed with a clubfoot in 1963 and given a bleak prognosis, she is determined to make him overcome physical challenges and social barriers as she refuses to accept limits placed on his future. With fierce determination and unwavering belief in him, she embarks on a mission to help her son not only overcome challenges but truly thrive.
Based on the novel by Roland Perez.
6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Festival Champlain Reception
Join us for a gala reception as we celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Festival Champlain at State Street Church in Portland’s West End. Free for all! Please register so that we know how many guests will be joining us.
Sunday October 18
12:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Nos Belles-Soeurs (Sisters and Neighbors!) (2024, Canada)
By Richard Cyr with Geneviève Schmidt, Guylaine Tremblay, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé
135 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Germaine Lauzon, a housewife, wins a million trading stamps that she believes will give her access to the happiness and new world she’s been dreaming of for so long. She invites her sisters, sisters-in-law and neighbours to a party to help her glue the stamps, but her joy and pleasure will make some people jealous.
Based on the smash hit play by Michel Tremblay.
3:00 PM-5:02 PM
L’Étranger (The Stranger) (2025, France)
By François Ozon with Benjamin Voisin, Rebecca Marder and Pierre Lottin
122 minutes (in French with English subtitles)
Overview: Meursault is a detached and indifferent Frenchman in French Algeria, who, weeks after his mother's funeral, kills an unnamed Arab man in Algiers. The ensuing trial explores both the crime and his character. It is considered a landmark work of existentialism and is widely regarded as Camus's masterpiece. This adaptation of Camus’ most famous work is enriched by the stunning cinematography: every scene is a work of cinematic mastery and the black and white film adds to the visual richness.
Based on Albert Camus’ 1942 novella, one of the most widely read French novels in the world, and translated into 75 languages.
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