2025 Denver Film Festival

By François Ozon

Country: France

Set in Algiers in 1938, The Stranger is a lush, gorgeous adaptation of Albert Camus’s existential classic, directed by François Ozon. Meursault, a quiet and detached clerk in his thirties, attends his mother’s funeral without a tear. Soon after, he begins a casual affair with a coworker, Marie. His routine is shattered when his neighbor Raymond pulls him into shady dealings, culminating in a tragic event on a blisteringly hot beach.

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By Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
Country: France

Two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne return with one of their most surprising films in years, turning their clear-eyed compassion toward a group of teenage mothers living in a maternal shelter near Liège. Shot with the brothers’ signature naturalism, the film follows five young women, some pregnant and some already caring for infants, as they face poverty, fractured families, and the challenges of early motherhood.

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By Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
Country: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Italy

On the Côte d’Azur, retired spy John Dimon (Fabio Testi) discovers that the woman next door has vanished, a mystery that draws him back into shadows of his past. Directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani mix giallo stylization, spy-movie theatrics, and surreal imagery in a flamboyant salute to mid-century genre cinema. What begins as intrigue in a luxury hotel unravels into a feverish puzzle of assassins, memories, and obsession.

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By Erige Sehiri
Country: Tunisia, France, Qatar

Marie, an Ivorian pastor and former journalist who has lived in Tunisia for a decade, opens her home to two women seeking new beginnings: Naney, a young mother, and Jolie, a determined student carrying her family’s hopes. Together they form a delicate bond of solidarity, tested when an orphaned child enters their lives. Set against the stark realities of sub-Saharan migrants navigating life in North Africa, the film exposes divisions within African communities as well as the resilience of women who refuse to face hardship alone. From director Erige Sehiri (Under the Fig Tree), Promised Sky reflects both the pressures of immigration and the universal struggle for belonging.

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By Julien Elie
Country: Canada

Boca Chica, Texas, where Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets tower over a fragile coastal community. Shot in striking black and white by cinematographer-turned-director Julien Elie, the documentary contrasts the awe of space-age ambition with the devastation it leaves behind: exploding rockets, displaced residents, and wildlife silenced by debris. Drawing on the ecological idea of “shifting baselines,” explores whether humanity’s drive to colonize Mars comes at the expense of the planet we already call home.

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By Richard Linklater
Country: United States, France

Nouvelle Vague is Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater’s love letter to the revolutionary magic of the French New Wave, reimagining the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, which ultimately cemented Godard as a pioneer of global cinema. As critic turned director Godard makes and breaks the rules, a mix of fresh faces and daring talents — including Zoey Deutch as Jean Seberg, Aubry Dullin as Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Guillaume Marbeck as Godard himself — bring his spontaneous, electric film to life. Capturing the youthful dynamism and creative chaos at the heart of one of the world’s most beloved and influential movies, Nouvelle Vague transports us to the streets of 1959 Paris for an ode to the transformative power of cinema.

Includes a post-film conversation with 2025 Rising Star honoree Zoey Deutch

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