French Institute Alliance Française’s essential festival returns with a surplus of US premieres and a series paying tribute to Paul Grimault, one of France’s most accomplished animators.

Christopher Lee Inoa
Christopher Lee Inoa is a freelance reporter, and critic specializing in film and animation. His work has appeared on The Film Stage, Fandor, Birth.Movies.Death, Syfy Wire, and Polygon. He has a Masters in Journalism from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and a Bachelor's in Film Studies from CUNY Brooklyn College.
Kelly Reichardt on First Cow and Poking Fun at Masculinity
The acclaimed filmmaker remarked, “It’s still so shocking to me that in current times the big, white, strong man with the big voice holds any appeal to anybody.”
Celebrating the Founders and Future of French Animation
This year’s FIAF Animation First Festival showcases the work of emerging filmmakers, all of whom build on the rich history of French animation that began over a century ago.
Euphoric, Boundary-Breaking Anime
Promare is an ideal introduction to the burning, creative, unwavering, and sometimes illogical soul of Studio Trigger.
Signs of Chinese Animation’s Resurgence
This romantic fantasy shows that while Chinese animation still has a long way to go, it is continuing to make progress after decades of lagging behind in relevance.
A Tribute to the Millions of Lives Destroyed in the Cambodian Genocide
Filmmaker Denis Do used interviews with his mother to craft the animated film Funan, an affecting portrait of a family swept up in the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
A Touching Portrait of Martha Cooper, a Legendary Chronicler of Graffiti
Martha: A Picture Story, is the first documentary that focuses on the life and career of one of the most important urban photographers of the past half-century.
An Animated Masterpiece by the Unsung Co-Founder of Studio Ghibli
Before 2016, Isao Takahata’s Only Yesterday was considered the “lost” Ghibli film.