Past Events

This playful, hyper-stylish homage to Louis Feuillade’s silent serials follows the titular black hat and cloak–wearing vigilante, whose latest target is a thieving banker, entangling his virtuous daughter, her child’s scheming governess, and a detective on Judex’s trail.

“If the visual intensity of the silent film had never existed, Franju would have invented it.” – Raymond Durgnat

An exquisite Emmanuelle Riva appears in the title role of a complex woman stifled by a confining provincial existence and loveless marriage. Her increasing resistance to playing the role of perfect wife and mother triggers an intense, murderous hatred for her boring, landowner husband (Philippe Noiret)

After touring the world with his one-man show, Un soir de gala, acclaimed French comedian Vincent Dedienne collaborated with over a dozen songwriters to create an album of songs based on the characters from the show. Dedienne performs those songs live, bringing new depth to the stories that have charmed audiences around the world.

Before directing his debut narrative feature in 1958, Franju made a series of extraordinary shorts, notably documentary portraits of French society in the 1950s: the nocturnal Paris in La Premiere nuit (The First Night, 1958), a portrait of Notre-Dame, Cathédrale de Paris (1957) – both newly restored.

Part Agatha Christie whodunit, part William Castle gimmickry, with a dash of giallo, Franju’s mischievous follow-up to Eyes Without a Face watches a greedy family (including a baby-faced Jean-Louis Trintignant) scramble to inherit a fortune… all while the beneficiaries begin turning up dead.

Ten exceptional young artists come together in a bold program from Paris’s leading dance school, The Choreographic Ensemble of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. Featuring works by choreographers Leïla Ka and Robyn Orlin, blending repertoire and original creation, the evening explores freedom, belonging, and social engagement through movement.

An early body-horror marvel, Franju’s influential chiller sees a surgeon/mad scientist (Pierre Brasseur) take extreme measures to restore the face of his daughter (Édith Scob) after a disfiguring car accident. Misunderstood upon its release and now rightfully recognized as a masterpiece, Franju’s best-known work is memorably gruesome and gorgeous.

A beloved family classic starring Catherine Deneuve as a princess who escapes an unwanted royal marriage by disguising herself in a donkey’s hide.

Acclaimed directing partners Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq reimagine this 17th-century classic for the Comédie-Française as a deliciously relevant class farce complete with fantastical costumes and Balkan-inspired music.