“De Gaulle” Wins Audience Prize at 30th American French Film Festival

By Marcus Bennett

The 30th American French Film Festival in Los Angeles drew more than 18,000 people and awarded its top audience prize to Antonin Baudry’s “De Gaulle” on Nov. 8, 2026.

The festival reported a seven-minute standing ovation after the two parts screened back-to-back in packed theaters on Saturday.

Simon Abkarian plays the French general, and Simon Russell Beale plays Winston Churchill. Antonin Baudry and Bérénice Vila wrote the two-part World War II epic.

Set during World War II, the film follows the general’s rise and his effort to build a French Resistance after France surrendered to Nazi Germany in 1940.

What does the win change for U.S. audiences?

Samuel Goldwyn Films is releasing “De Gaulle” in the United States, the festival said. The first part, “De Gaulle: Resistance,” reached theaters across the country and transactional video on demand over the weekend. “De Gaulle: Liberty” opens in early December.

The festival said Pathé had sold the film to China for a wide release. It is playing in the U.K., where the festival said it ranks as 2026’s highest-grossing French film.

The wider awards field

Longtime programmer Francois Truffart and deputy director Anouchka Van Riel led the anniversary edition. The festival reported that opening- and closing-night presentations sold out, alongside numerous other screenings.

Its lineup contained 31 fiction features, 11 series, four documentaries and 14 shorts. Nineteen titles screened in Los Angeles before their French release, and nearly half of the lineup had previously played at Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno or Toronto.

The festival announced the following awards:

• The Critics Award for best film went to “La Gradiva,” presented in association with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Marine Atlan wrote the film with Anne Brouillet and made her directorial debut. The festival described Atlan as an acclaimed cinematographer.
• The festival said “La Gradiva” world-premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week, won the section’s top honor and drew strong reviews. It also won the d’Ornano-Valenti Prize at the Deauville Film Festival. 1-2 Special will handle U.S. distribution.
• The festival’s synopsis follows high school students on a class trip to Naples. Desire, anger and despair take hold as they explore the ancient city’s ruins from Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in A.D. 79. The film stars Antonia Buresi alongside newcomers Colas Quignard, Suzanne Gerin and Mitia Capellier-Audat.
• Mélisa Godet’s debut feature “A Place for Her” won the First Feature Award. The ensemble drama stars Karin Viard and Laetitia Dosch. It revolves around a shelter supporting women who have survived violence.
• “Whispers in the Woods,” the latest film by wildlife photographer and filmmaker Vincent Munier, won the Documentary Film Award. The festival described him as an acclaimed wildlife photographer and filmmaker. His previous credits include “The Velvet Queen.”
• “The Green Eyes,” directed by Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh, won the American Students Award. It follows Chaya, who lives with her family in the Landes region of France. When the family learns they must leave, her older brother Nour falls into a mysterious sleep. It is Liatard and Trouilh’s follow-up to “Gagarine.”
• “Alice: Pioneer of Cinema,” directed by Virginie Verrier and Guillaume Lonergan, won the Audience Series Award. Bérénice Bejo stars as pioneering French filmmaker Alice Guy-Blaché. The series has sold to major territories, with a U.S. deal in the pipeline.
• “Swapped,” directed by Vania Leturcq and Savina Dellicour, won the Jury Series Award.
• Melissa Silveira’s “Diego” won the Audience Short Film Award.
• Jocelyn Charles’s animated “God Is Shy” won the Jury Short Film Award. Danièle Evenou, Alba Gaïa Bellugi and Anthony Bajon provide the voices.

The festival announced the awards at Sunday’s closing ceremony after a week of screenings and industry events celebrating French cinema and television.

The American French Film Festival is organized by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a partnership among the Directors Guild of America, the Motion Picture Association, French music rights organization SACEM and the Writers Guild of America West.

Pathé’s sale to China and the film’s U.K. ranking have extended its reach beyond the festival and its French audience. The early-December U.S. release of “De Gaulle: Liberty” will now test whether that response supports sustained attendance.