From 12 to 29 November 2026, the vOilah! French Film Festival 2026 brings 34 French films to Shaw Theatres, Alliance Française de Singapour and Filmhouse. Standard tickets cost S$16, and students and seniors pay S$11. If French cinema has always sounded like homework, start with two stories you already know: new adaptations of The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables. The whole programme and tickets sit on the vOilah! French Film Festival website.
This is the festival’s 42nd edition, and its organisers describe it as Singapore’s longest-running foreign film festival. The Embassy of France in Singapore runs it, with Alliance Française de Singapour, Shaw Organisation and Filmhouse as co-presenters. The festival reaches past the cinemas too, with screenings at community clubs, libraries and an open-air night at Palawan Beach. Our first look at this year’s line-up has more on that beach night.
Two Stories You Already Know
Alexandre Castagnetti’s The Phantom of the Opera is set inside the Palais Garnier in Paris, which the festival calls “probably the most famous opera house in the world.” The mystery, passion and obsession play out behind its curtains. Castagnetti is one of the filmmakers the festival is bringing to Singapore, so this one comes with the person who made it.
Fred Cavayé’s Les Misérables takes on Victor Hugo’s novel, one of the best-known books in French literature. The organisers list both films among the box-office hits playing at Shaw Theatres and Alliance Française de Singapour. That makes them a safe bet for the friend who only said yes because they recognised the title!
One General, Two Films
Headlining the programme are De Gaulle I: Tilting Iron and De Gaulle II: The Sovereign Age, a two-part portrait of Charles de Gaulle. He’s the French general who became a central figure of the French Resistance during the Second World War, and the films follow the difficult choices that shaped France’s future. De Gaulle I screened in the Official Selection, Out of Competition, at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
At the student rate, both parts come to S$22, while two standard tickets cost S$32. That’s a fair price for a two-night history lesson that never feels like one.
Paris, Love and Electricity
The Electric Kiss opened the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, and it carries audiences to early 20th-century Paris with a mix of romance and fantasy. Anyone who wants a taste of this year’s Cannes without leaving Singapore should circle this one first.
Delicacy, directed by David and Stéphane Foenkinos, is a gentler story about love and second chances in Paris. It’s presented with the Singapore Writers Festival, and David Foenkinos, a novelist as well as a screenwriter, will be in town for it. Book-club friends, this is your night out.
Women Who Won’t Stay Quiet
Mélisa Godet’s A Place For Her puts women’s experiences and solidarity at the heart of its story. It gets a special screening at Alliance Française de Singapour on 18 November, a week before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November.
Women On Trial, which screened Out of Competition at Cannes 2026, revisits a landmark fight for women’s rights in France. Malika tells the true story of a woman who overcame poverty, discrimination and a childhood accident to chase her dream of singing as a mezzo-soprano.
Jeunet, Up Close
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Amélie, is coming to Singapore for a retrospective. The festival lists at least four special screenings across its run, with post-screening Q&A sessions giving audiences several chances to meet him. Each film’s listing on the festival site shows whether that session includes one.
His newest film, Violette, plays at Shaw Theatres and Alliance Française de Singapour. Violette looks after a cemetery in a small Burgundy town and spends her days listening to other people’s confidences, until a police officer’s investigation into her past forces her to face a long-buried truth.
Filmhouse digs further into Jeunet’s back catalogue with some of his best-known work. It pairs that with a tribute to Marjane Satrapi built around Persepolis, her award-winning animated film about identity, freedom and resistance.
Cartoons for Three Generations
Nearly ten of the films are family-friendly. The list runs from Asterix: The Kingdom of Nubia, Pets on a Train and Mune: Guardian of the Moon to the classics The Choir and Sophie’s Misfortunes. Julien Chheng’s animated fantasy Muyi And The Handsome General is in there too, and Chheng, who directed Ernest and Celestine: A Journey in Charabia, will be in Singapore.
The organisers pitch the animation selection as a nod to The Violinist, which they describe as Singapore’s first award-winning animated film. It’s a sweet touch for local families, and a good excuse to drag grandparents along.
Screenings Closer to Home
The People’s Association (PA), the statutory board behind Singapore’s community clubs, returns as a partner with 20 screenings across 10 community clubs and Integrated Community Hubs. Sentosa’s Movies by the Beach is hosting an open-air screening at Palawan Beach, which means French cinema under the stars by the sea.
New partners the National Library and Archives Board and Serangoon Garden Country Club add more locations, bringing films into libraries and heartland spaces. The event listing notes that free screenings are available as well, and each session’s entry details are on the festival site.
Three Worth Booking First
Start with The Phantom of the Opera, a story you can follow even if your French stops at bonjour, with its director in town. Next, grab a seat at a Jeunet retrospective screening that carries a Q&A, because a chance to question the man behind Amélie doesn’t come around every November.
Finally, if two nights are free, book both De Gaulle films, the headline titles of the festival. Seeing the two back to back is the closest thing to a French history crash course that comes with popcorn.
🗓️ Date: 12 to 29 November 2026
⏰ Time: Various timings
📍 Location: Shaw Theatres, Alliance Française de Singapour, Filmhouse and participating community venues
🎟️ Tickets: S$16 standard; S$11 for students and senior citizens; S$14.50 for Alliance Française and Singapore Film Society members; free screenings available
🔗 Details: vOilah! French Film Festival
With 34 films on the list, the trickiest part is choosing, and the seats that go fastest may be the ones where Jeunet stays behind after the credits. Session times, venues and tickets for every screening are up now on the vOilah! French Film Festival website, so grab yours before 12 November!
Photos and Visuals courtesy of vOilah! French Film Festival, with stills by Emmanuel Guimier, Malgosia Abramowska, Marie-Camille Orlando, PALOMAR – 24 25 FILMS – STUDIOCANAL – FRANCE 2 CINÉMA, Les Films Pelleas, M6 Studio, M6 Films and Studio La Cachette Duetto.
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