Star Wars spin-off hits screens while French history resurfaces at Cannes • FRANCE 24 English

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:25]Hello and welcome to Arts 24. Well, while the Can Film Festival is in full swing here in France, Hollywood's not taking a breather, of course. This week marks the release of the latest Star Wars movie, the franchise's first new feature in 8 years. The Mandalorian and Grogu with Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver comes 49 years after the first installment of the multi-planetary saga.

[00:00:48]Antonia Kerrigan tells us more.

[00:00:54]We've all heard stories of the Mandalorian bounty hunter and a child.

[00:01:03]Another film for the ever-growing Star Wars franchise. The Mandalorian and Grogu born out of the spin-off TV series in which Pedro Pascal, a masked armored figure, is charged with protecting a young Yoda from warring elements across the galaxy. We're protecting everything the Rebellion fought for.

[00:01:22]Good luck.

[00:01:25]But according to the Chilean-American star, the portrayal was very much a team effort. I spent months in the suit um with the helmet on and um and learned uh how important it was to um play a beat with a gesture. So, in the tradition of Star Wars, it's been an incredible collaboration from the beginning.

[00:01:46]I'll be right behind you.

[00:01:48]Go.

[00:01:49]Go. This two-hour feature film comes 49 years after George Lucas' first blockbuster and 8 years after the last film in the franchise, I'm a driver and I'm a flyer. Adding to an ever more tentaculous Star Wars universe. After the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney in 2012, Disney has released seven live-action TV series on their streaming platform and many more animated ones as well as two more standalone films. Star Wars is a is a came from the cinema and sprung to life. I couldn't figure out how to make Ahsoka into a film. But I think we need it all. I think it's all part of what drives the big ego system that is Star Wars.

[00:02:30]Despite the three seasons of The Mandalorian that precede the feature film, directors hope that there will still be something for everyone in the new release, even for those who haven't done their background reading.

[00:02:44]Are you scared?

[00:02:46]And while the previous film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, had its world premiere in Cannes in 2018, this latest spin-off is launching far from the flashbulbs of the Riviera. Speaking of which, it's time to check in with our team at the festival. This year more than 60 French productions and co-productions are screening in Cannes. Our critic Manon Khargan joins us to take us through some of the highlights. Manon, hi. It sounds like a great year for French cinema.

[00:03:15]Yes, absolutely. French cinema is extremely visible across every section of the festival, especially in competition where we have five French films competing for the Palme d'Or with a majority of female directors. Starting with Garance, directed by Jeanne Herry and starring Adèle Exarchopoulos as a young actress struggling with alcoholism. The Birthday Party by Léa Mysius, which blends family drama with something much darker and almost dreamlike. A Woman's Life by Charline Bourgeois Tackett, starring Melanie Thierry and Lea Drucker. This one is a portrait of a 50-year-old surgeon whose life begins to shift. But also The Unknown by Arthur Harari, a mysterious body-swapping story with Lea Seydoux.

[00:04:07]And finally, A Man of His Time by Emmanuel Mouret, which will be premiering here later tonight and which is already being described as one of the most politically charged French film of the festival. Fantastic. A lot to get through then. Manon, which one would you say stayed with you after you left the theater?

[00:04:29]Well, the one I particularly enjoyed is probably A Woman's Life starring Melanie Thierry and Lea Drucker, who is really impressive in the role of Gabrielle, a 50-year-old surgeon who has built her entire life around her career, but without giving up her independence. And visually, the film moves between something almost documentary-like in the hospital scenes and something much more intimate in her private life. But I think what makes the film resonate so strongly is the fact that it presents a female character who refuses to shrink or to apologize for the place she occupies. Let's take a look at the film and hear from Melanie Thierry and Lea Drucker.

[00:05:32]I love being able to stop and hear her story and get a sense of a woman like that.

[00:05:37]Someone who is confident and self-assured.

[00:05:40]But who can sometimes lose her rhythm over very ordinary things at the same time.

[00:05:47]I get the that it portrays two completely free women in quite different ways, with different energies, with different life choices, and at the same time without ever compromising.

[00:06:04]Looks like some really fully fleshed out female characters there. And even when they're not being directed by French filmmakers, major French stars are very visible, competing for the Palm d'Or this year as well.

[00:06:16]Yes, absolutely. Of course, there's Parallel Mothers by Asghar Farhadi, which brings together several big French names, including Isabelle Huppert, Pierre Niney, Vincent Cassel, Virginie Efira, and Catherine Deneuve. The French cinema icon also features along with Léa Seydoux in Gentle Monster by Austrian director Marie Kreutzer, which tackles the difficult issue of child sexual abuse. I obviously knew about sexual violence towards children, but I was not so aware that I I must not only not do not only know victims, I must know perpetrators as well. And this is really where it started.

[00:06:59]Is there a problem?

[00:07:13]Can I Can I use your phone, Lucy?

[00:07:18]Yes.

[00:07:20]I think this film was first and foremost necessary.

[00:07:24]I find it very powerful and very brave on Marie's part. And so, yes, I think it's a film with an extremely strong political and symbolic impact, obviously.

[00:07:35]I think it's a great responsibility for the director.

[00:07:40]You really need to believe and support her work with such a courageous story.

[00:07:47]And another film I was especially curious about is Moulin which premiered here on Sunday. It focuses on Jean Moulin, one of the greatest figures of the French Resistance during World War II. And he's played here by Gilles Lelouche. What's interesting is that the film avoids the traditional biopic format. It's more of a political thriller centered on underground networks and the paranoia during the occupation. Visually, it's very ambitious, but some of the torture scenes were quite intense and honestly a little difficult to watch.

[00:08:20]I can imagine that. Well, many of us have been very eager to see how Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes would handle that story. Here's a short clip of Moulin and a word from its leading man.

[00:08:48]There was this crazy and overwhelming sense of responsibility surrounding the film.

[00:08:53]It wasn't about making a biography or making a biopic, and it certainly wasn't about a broader view of history.

[00:08:59]It was about getting to the heart of the character's honesty, his personality, his most intimate self.

[00:09:05]And another film exploring a major French political figure premiering this week out of competition though is De Gaulle Tilting Iron by Antonin Baudry.

[00:09:17]Yes, I'm really looking forward to this one. The film revisits a crucial moment in De Gaulle's political career, and given the budget of the film, we can expect something quite impressive. It is the most expensive film produced in France this year with an 80 million euro budget. Wow, no less of a Charles de Gaulle. Well, there does seem to be a lot of interest in French history this year. There's another film that caught your eye, also inspired by real events.

[00:09:48]Yes, Women on Trial, which tells the true story of the Marie Claire case that became a turning point in France for abortion rights. And it stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Cécile de France. And it's both a courtroom drama and a much broader reflection on women's rights in France in the '70s. I absolutely loved this film and I think it's a great tribute for lawyer Gisèle Halimi who did so much for French women. Yes, an incredible figure indeed. Well, let's get a look at Charlotte Gainsbourg in the role of that pioneering lawyer and lawmaker Gisèle Halimi.

[00:10:55]Well, finally Manon, animation is really well represented at the festival this year with eight French animated features screening.

[00:11:05]Yes, absolutely. I had the opportunity to attend the midnight screening of Jim Queen and it was quite an experience.

[00:11:13]The Lumière theater was completely electrified for this wild queer satire set in Paris. And what's also remarkable is that the Critics' Week chose to open with a French animated film called In Waves because animation is still too often treated as secondary in festivals.

[00:11:33]But, this film is incredibly ambitious both visually and emotionally. It tells the story of two teenagers in LA whose love story is transformed by illness and grief. And the animation is absolutely gorgeous. It's inspired by Californian light and David Hockney paintings. And the soundtrack is incredible. There were quite a few tears in the screening room by the end and a very long standing ovation. Mhm. It does look aesthetically perfect for Cannes. Manon, thank you so much for the tips and thanks for that overview of the very best in French features at the festival. We'll leave you with a short clip of In Waves. Do join us here for more coverage from Cannes everyday until the end of the festival here on Arts 24.

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