September 2025 Film Guide: What to Watch in France
Why This Article?
This September 2025 film guide highlights the best new releases, restored classics, and unmissable festivals across France. From heartfelt tributes to bold auteur cinema, the fall season starts strong.
🎞️ New Trailers
The 2025 Cultural Season: Films, Festivals & Tributes in Paris and Across France
From August to December 2025, Paris and France will host a compelling lineup of cultural events: screenings, exhibitions, tributes, and festivals. Here’s our complete and critical guide.
Highlights from the September 2025 Film Guide
🎬 Tributes & Special Screenings
Tribute to Paul Newman – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Richard Brooks, 1958)
📅 Friday, September 12 – 8 PM – Le Balzac Cinema, Paris (8th)
A one-night-only screening for Paul Newman’s centenary, with his daughter Clea Newman in attendance.
A dual tribute: to a legendary actor and his humanitarian legacy via the SeriousFun Children’s Network.
🎁 The first 40 guests receive a gift (biography or official merch).
🎉 Film Festivals
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Deauville American Film Festival
📅 September 5–14 – Deauville – A Key Stop in the September 2025 Film Guide -
Play It Again! – Restored Film Festival
📅 September 19–29 – Nationwide -
FIFDA – African Diaspora International Film Festival
📅 September 5–7 – Paris -
Mon Premier Festival
📅 October 26 – November 1 – Paris -
Pariscience – 21st Edition
📅 October 3–27 – Natural History Museum & Institut de Physique du Globe, Paris + online
💡 Focus 2025: 🌊 Oceans, 🧠 Mental Health
🆕 New categories: Student Short Film Competition, Climate Focus “Empreinte”, Agora Debates.
🎨 Exhibitions
European Heritage Days – Fondation Simone et Cino Del Duca
📅 September 20 & 21 – 10 AM to 5 PM – Hôtel Pereire, Paris 8th
Rare opening of a Haussmann mansion, featuring the exhibit 50 fois Del Duca.
🎞️ Cinema Releases – September 2025
📅 Wednesday, September 3
La Voie du serpent — Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa – Crime / Thriller
Cast: Damien Bonnard, Kô Shibasaki, Mathieu Amalric
Albert, devastated by his daughter’s disappearance, teams up with Japanese psychiatrist Sayoko to investigate, leading them to a dark secret society.
📝 Kurosawa’s first French-language film, out of competition at Venice 2024. Distributed by Diaphana.
Exit 8 — Dir. Genki Kawamura – Drama / Suspense
Cast: Kazunari Ninomiya, Yamato Kōchi
Based on the cult video game: a man trapped in a subway corridor must spot anomalies to escape.
📝 Kawamura’s directorial debut after producing hits like Your Name.
Adieu Jean-Pat — Dir. Cécilia Rouaud – Comedy
Cast: Hakim Jemili, Nora Hamzawi, Valérie Karsenti
Etienne is unexpectedly in charge of organizing the funeral of his childhood rival. A tender, absurd comedy.
Fils de — Dir. Carlos Abascal Peiró – Comedy / Drama
Cast: Jean Chevalier, François Cluzet, Karin Viard
Nino, a disgraced political aide, must convince his revolutionary father to return to Paris and run for office — within 24 hours.
🎥 First feature by Spanish director Peiró.
Watch the trailer
High and Low (Entre le Ciel et l’Enfer) – Akira Kurosawa – Restored Classic
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Kyoko Kagawa
A business tycoon is torn between his career and saving his kidnapped son.
🎥 4K restoration rerelease by Carlotta Films.
Sleepless City (Ciudad Sin Sueño) — Dir. Guillermo Galoe – Drama
A 15-year-old Roma teen lives in a makeshift Madrid neighborhood facing demolition. A raw, poetic look at marginal lives.
🎥 San Sebastián 2024 – New Directors Section
Watch the trailer
📅 Wednesday, September 10
Sirat — Dir. Oliver Laxe – Drama
Cast: Sergi López, Bruno Núñez, Jade Oukid
In Morocco’s Saghro desert, a father and son search for their missing daughter, crossing paths with ravers chasing a mythical festival.
🎥 A mystic, visual odyssey.
Watch the trailer
The Conjuring: Judgment Day — Dir. Michael Chaves – Horror
Ed and Lorraine Warren face one last demonic threat — joined by their daughter Judy — in this final, family-rooted investigation.
📝 Inspired by the real-life Smurl haunting case.
Downton Abbey III: The Grand Finale — Dir. Simon Curtis – Historical Drama
The Crawleys navigate the 1930s. Final chapter of the saga.
📝 A moving farewell to Maggie Smith, who passed away in September 2024.
Shaun the Sheep: Barnyard Mayhem – Family Animation
Shaun and friends face chaos — this time with llamas!
Connemara — Dir. Alex Lutz – Drama / Romance
After a burnout, Hélène returns to the Vosges and reconnects with her first love.
🎥 A poetic encounter of two worlds.
Watch the trailer
A Place for Pierrot — Dir. Hélène Médigue – Drama
Camille decides to give her over-medicated autistic brother a dignified life.
Renoir — Dir. Tîe Hayakawa – Drama
Tokyo, 1987. Fuki, 11, lives in shadows. A delicate and intimate portrait of solitude.
Free Exchange — Dir. Michael Angelo Covino – Comedy / Drama
Post-breakup, Carey discovers open relationships. A contemporary take on love and expectations.
📅 Wednesday, September 17
Dalloway — Dir. Yann Gozlan – Psychological Thriller / Sci-fi
A novelist’s AI assistant becomes dangerously intrusive.
📝 Based on Les Fleurs de l’ombre by Tatiana de Rosnay. Gozlan’s first Cannes entry.
Watch the trailer
The Tormented — Dir. Lucas Belvaux – Drama
A war veteran is hunted in a cruel human game orchestrated by a bored widow.
Demon Slayer: The Infinite Fortress – Movie 1 – Animation / Action
Final arc begins. Tanjirô, Nezuko, and the Pillars face their ultimate enemy.
Look — Dir. Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud – Dramedy
Divorced parents realize their son is going blind and set out to create lasting memories.
Nino — Dir. Pauline Loquès – Drama
Facing a personal challenge, Nino embarks on a spiritual journey through Paris.
Watch the trailer
Adam’s Best Interest — Dir. Laura Wandel – Social Drama
In a custody case, nurse Lucy defends the emotional needs of a hospitalized 4-year-old.
The Man Who Saw the Bear Who Saw the Man — Dir. Pierre Richard – Comedy
Two friends bond with a circus bear. A whimsical tale on nature and intergenerational friendship.
Watch the trailer
📅 Wednesday, September 24
One Battle After Another — Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson – Comedy / Action
A former revolutionary group reunites to rescue a comrade’s daughter.
Watch the trailer
Middle Class — Dir. Anthony Cordier – Comedy
A family quarrel in a luxury villa goes off the rails.
The Million — Dir. Grégoire Vigneron – Comedy
Stan steals €1M just before getting the promotion he thought he’d lost. Now he must return the money overnight.
Rembrandt — Dir. Pierre Schoeller – Drama
Two physicists visit the National Gallery. A painting changes their lives.
Watch the trailer
Muganga – The Healer — Dir. Marie-Hélène Roux – Historical Drama
Dr. Mukwege treats women survivors of sexual violence in the DRC alongside a Belgian surgeon.
📝 Review coming soon.
Watch the trailer
Kontinental ’25 — Dir. Radu Jude – Drama
A small eviction spirals into a major moral dilemma in Cluj, Romania.
Titouan: Coral Kids — Dir. Karim Mahdjouba – Documentary
In Moorea, local youth replant coral to save the marine ecosystem. A poetic, ecological perspective.
Conclusion
As shown throughout this September 2025 film guide, cinema in France blends memory, activism, and entertainment this month. From Deauville to FIFDA, from Paul Newman tributes to supernatural blockbusters like Conjuring, September 2025 reflects cinema’s diversity — memory, activism, and entertainment intertwining. A season where heritage meets modernity.
📣 Community Call
And you — which film or festival is on your radar this September 2025?
Drop a comment below and share your favourites 👇
