So many films, so little time! If you're struggling to choose from all the marvellous, funny, romantic and gripping films in this year's French Film festival Aotearoa, we've got a top ten list to help you out.

The festival runs from 23 June until 10 July at Academy Gold Cinema, Lumière Cinemas and Deluxe Cinemas in Christchurch. It showcases the boldness, daring originality and poignant excellence of French cinema. Side-splitting comedies to gripping drama, swoon-worthy romance to Hitchcockian thrillers, there's something for all cinematic tastes here, so straighten your beret and peruse our handy list to make booking a breeze.

OSS 117: From Africa with Love

France's answer to an '80s James Bond is the clueless and arrogant OSS agent 117,Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath. This film, the third instalment in the OSS 117 parody spy series, reached number one at the French box office. The hilarious and staunchly patriotic French secret agent heads to Africa to help out President Bamba, whose re-election is threatened by his wife who secretly leads a group of rebels.

A Mermaid in Paris

This is a quirky and eccentric tail (heh) of a man who rescues a mermaid from the banks of the Seine. Gaspard is a broken-hearted musician who has sworn never to love again, while Lula the singing mermaid relies on her voice to defend herself from men. A refreshingly original film about what it means to believe in the things you love.

Happy 50

Yves' 50th birthday celebrations are derailed when the flight taking his group of long-time friends to Greece is cancelled and they ending up in a much rainier, less glamorous location. Then a birthday present-gone wrong DNA test has some unforseen consequenses for Yves.

Between Two Worlds

A famous author (Juliette Binoche) goes undercover to research her new book about job insecurity, and becomes a part of a community of women working behind the scenes, sharing strong bonds as well as the lodestones of financial instability and social invisibility.

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Farewell, Mr Haffman

Jewish jeweller Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil) arranges for his family to flee Nazi-occupied Paris in 1941, but unfortunately his own escape is thwarted. Joseph turns to his employee for help, and the agreement between the two men becomes a Faustian bargain that will change the fate of all.

Madeleine Collins

This Hitchcockian psychological thriller follows a woman, a prodigious liar living a double life whose identity begins to crack. Sophisticated and elegant with a touch of suspense, Madeleine Collins is a deft tale of a woman at the centre of two colliding worlds, carrying hints of Vertigo and Kramer vs. Kramer.

Men on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

These seven men are all differrent ages and from differenct backgrounds. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that they are all on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The eponymous seven come together for a boot camp in the wild, lead by a feisty female instructor with a mission to get them back on their feet.

Employee of the Month

This smash-hit comedy follows Vincent, a civil servant who loves his bureaucratic place in the system. Budget cuts send Vincent through a series of transfers to some of the worst parts of France. Will his comfort with bureaucracy suffer as a result?

Everything Went Fine

An engrossing family drama on the complicated issue of euthenasia. Andre duffers a major stroke and, half-paralysed in a hospital bed, he asks his daughter Emmanuèle to help him end his life.

Kompromat

Based on a true story about a French diplomat who becomes embroiled in a saga with the Russian secret service, the FSB, when he's framed and imprisoned for a terrible crime in Siberia.

Academy Gold Cinema, Lumière Cinemas, Deluxe Cinemas
Thursday 23 June - Sunday 10 July
frenchfilmfestival.co.nz