Cinestudio Presents “April in Paris–Power Plays: Jeux de Pouvoir”

Cate Griffin ‘27

B&P Editor

Cinestudio’s French Film Festival — otherwise known as “April in Paris” — is an annual event that celebrates the work of Francophone filmmakers and creatives. It was first conceived 26 years ago by Professors Karen Humphreys and Sonia Lee of the Trinity College Department of Language and Culture Studies, in collaboration with Cinestudio directors Peter McMorris and James Hanley. The festival explores films not just from France, but also from various French-speaking cultures, such as Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Canada.

This year’s theme, “Power Plays: Jeux de Pouvoir,” explores the subjects of power and control through film. Colonialism is one of the main topics of the 2026 Film Festival, as presented through the movies “Ni chaînes ni maîtres,” a film focusing on slavery in the 18th-century French Caribbean, and “Red Island,” which is set on a French military base in 1970s Madagascar. 

War and politics are also a large part of the central theme this year. “Les nouveaux messieurs” follows the complicated liaisons between a ballet dancer, an older, powerful politician, and a young electrician-turned-civil-organizer, but also uses comedy and satire to comment on the changing class dynamics of 1930s Paris and expose the flaws in the French political system. “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” is at first glance a brightly-colored movie musical about a romance between two young lovers in 1950s Cherbourg, but this romance is interrupted when the male lead is drafted into the Algerian War. 

“When Fall is Coming” explores a different type of power play—the main character, Michelle, is a grandmother living a peaceful life in the French countryside. However, director François Ozon forces the audience to question her true nature following a visit from her daughter and grandson gone wrong. 

Overall, every one of these five films has a distinct commonality: they all feature characters who strategize, maneuver and scheme their ways in and out of risky situations. The topics explored in the film choices this year are vast, but their underlying messages seek to expose the “power plays” that affect our lives and our world.