French cinema has been washing up on Los Angeles shores for three decades now, and this year the American French Film Festival (TAFFF) is marking its 30th edition with its biggest statement yet. From November 7th to 12th, the Directors Guild of America Theater Complex on Sunset Boulevard becomes a little corner of Paris, with 31 features, 11 series, four documentaries and 14 short films screening across the week. That volume makes TAFFF the second oldest film festival in Los Angeles, a point former DGA president Taylor Hackford was keen to stress.

The programme opens with IN WAVES, a coming-of-age animated feature from director Phuong Mai Nguyen, and closes a week that blends festival darlings with awards contenders. The standout ticket for many will be the U.S. theatrical premiere of DE GAULLE, Antonin Baudry's two-part, five-hour wartime epic starring Simon Abkarian. The film has been a box-office phenomenon in Europe and was shortlisted to represent France at the 99th Academy Awards, and both director and star are expected at a Parisian-style cocktail intermission between the two halves.

One structural change matters for anyone following the awards race: the festival has shifted from its traditional spring slot to autumn, planting itself squarely in awards season. That means French films that made noise at Cannes now reach Hollywood voters before Academy Awards consideration, rather than months after the buzz has faded.

The curators have also given the edition a theme: a "cinema of resistance", according to deputy director Anouchka van Riel. Films like A LITTLE GOOD SOLDIER, MINOTAUR, WOMEN ON TRIAL, FORSAKEN and STRAWBERRIES all pit individuals against systems built to grind them down, from corporate machines to online mobs. Woven through is a quieter thread about illness, care and human obligation, summed up by the festival's guiding question: at a time when intelligence is becoming artificial, what remains human?

For travellers, this is a genuinely good excuse to be in Los Angeles in early November. You get premieres and director Q&As without the crush of a mega-festival like TIFF, a venue that's easy to reach from anywhere in the city, and the chance to see French films months before general release. Festival passes are already on sale via theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org. Pair it with the nearby Hollywood Walk of Fame, a studio tour, and dinner along Sunset, and you have a long weekend that works for film fans and casual visitors alike.

Story via France Today.