23/06/2025 - Sofia Coppola and Keira Knightley will dazzle among the many guests invited to the festival, unspooling between 24 and 29 June and comprising an eight-feature-film competition

Birds of a feather flock together, so, naturally, tomorrow will see Cannes competitor New Wave [+see also:
film review
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film profile], by US director Richard Linklater (who’ll also be talking about how his film was made), opening the 3rd edition of the Biarritz Film Festival - Nouvelles Vagues, an event which seems to have imposed itself with lightning speed in the French festival panorama, thanks, not least, to the support of a fistful of powerful partners.

Steered by general delegates Sandrine Brauer and Lili Hinstin, this youth-focused festival will notably offer up a competition comprising eight feature films, which are set to be assessed by a jury led by Norwegian filmmaker Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel (and further composed of Anamaria Vartolomei, Paul Kircher, Ludovic et Zoran Boukherma, Malick Bodian, Sally, Sofia Carson, Nicholas Galitzine and Mallory Wanecque).

In the running are Live a Little [+see also:
film review
interview: Fanny Ovesen
film profile] by Sweden’s Fanny Ovesen (well-received in Gothenburg), Perla [+see also:
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interview: Alexandra Makarová
film profile] by Austria’s Alexandra Makarová (in competition in Rotterdam, released in France on 30 July via Maverick Distribution), Diciannove [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by Italy’s Giovanni Tortorici (discovered in Venice’s Orizzonti line-up), The Girl in the Snow [+see also:
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interview: Louise Hémon
film profile] by French director Louise Hémon (discovered in the Directors’ Fortnight and due for release in French cinemas on 24 December via Condor Distribution), L’épreuve du feu by fellow French filmmaker Aurélien Peyre (screening in a world premiere and due for release by Paname Distribution on 13 August), The Crowd by Iran’s Sahand Kabiri, and two titles which also graced Cannes’ Official Selection back in May: the French co-production Love on Trial by Japan’s Kôji Fukada, and Urchin [+see also:
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film profile] by English director Harris Dickinson (winning the Best Actor prize in the Un Certain Regard section for Frank Dillane).

Stealing focus out of competition among the various premieres and Special Screenings on the agenda are numerous titles also unveiled on the Croisette: competitors Romería [+see also:
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film profile] by Spain’s Carla Simón and Sentimental Value [+see also:
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interview: Joachim Trier
film profile] by Norway’s Joachim Trier (which won the Grand Prize), The President’s Cake by Iraq’s Hasan Hadi (scooping the Directors’ Fortnight’s Caméra d’Or and Audience Award), My Father’s Shadow [+see also:
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interview: Akinola Davies Jr
film profile] by British-Nigerian director Akinola Davies Jr. (nabbing a Special Mention in the Caméra d’Or line-up), Homebound by India’s Neeraj Ghaywan (set to close the present festival), Dangerous Animals by Australia’s Sean Byrne and the French films Love Letters [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] by French director Alice Douard, Summer Beats [+see also:
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interview: Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret
film profile] by the duo Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret and The Wonderers by fellow French filmmaker Joséphine Japy. The gathering will also host the French premiere of Jone, Sometimes by Spain's Sara Fantova.

Equally noteworthy are the Gazteria ("youth" in Basque) guests of honour: American filmmaker Sofia Coppola, English actress Keira Knightley and French actor Vincent Lacoste, not to mention the short film selection, the line-up of movies chosen and presented by film school students (hailing from Madrid’s ECAM and the Norwegian Film School, among other institutions), the day dedicated to protecting the oceans, the focus session on Brazilian new wave cinema, and a variety of conferences (notably on the subject of artificial intelligence).

(Translated from French)