Antonin Baudry’s De Gaulle has won the audience award for best film at the 30th American French Film Festival (TAFFF) in Los Angeles, while Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva picked up the critics’ prize.
The awards were announced at the festival’s closing ceremony on Sunday (November 8), following its 30th anniversary edition at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Theater Complex.
Baudry’s two-part historical epic, De Gaulle: Résistance and De Gaulle: Liberté, chronicles Charles de Gaulle’s efforts to unite the French Resistance and secure France’s liberation during the Second World War. Set between 1940 and 1944, the films star Simon Abkarian, Simon Russell Beale, Niels Schneider, Benoît Magimel and Anamaria Vartolomei. The two films have sold more than six million tickets in France since their June releases. Samuel Goldwyn Films released the first instalment in the US on November 6 and is set to release the second in early December.
Atlan’s debut feature La Gradiva, a French-Italian coming-of-age drama that premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week, won the critics’ award, presented in association with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA). The film follows a group of teenagers on a school trip to Naples and Pompeii as they navigate desire, friendships, rivalries and questions of identity. 1-2 Special will release the film in North America on Dec. 18. La Gradiva also picked up the top prize at the Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) over the weekend.
Mélisa Godet’s A Place For Her won the first feature award. Inspired by the real-life La Maison des Femmes in Saint-Denis, the ensemble drama follows the staff of a Paris women’s health centre offering medical, psychological and social support. The cast includes Karin Viard, Laetitia Dosch, Eye Haïdara, Oulaya Amamra and Juliette Armanet. Pathe Films handles international sales.
The documentary award went to Vincent Munier’s Whispers In The Woods, sold internationally by Le Bureau Films, which has drawn some 1.4 million admissions in France. The nature documentary follows Munier deep into the forest in search of lynxes, bears, owls, deer and other wildlife, while exploring his relationship with his father and son.
Fanny Liatard and Jérémy Trouilh’s The Green Eyes received the American Students Award. The magical-realist asylum drama, which opened the 79th Locarno Film Festival, follows Iraqi refugee children in France affected by resignation syndrome, a rare condition in which children suffering severe psychological trauma enter a coma-like state. Kinology handles international sales.
In the television categories, Alice: Pioneer Of Cinema, starring Bérénice Bejo as pioneering filmmaker Alice Guy, won the audience award for best series. Directed by Virginie Verrier and Guillaume Lonergan, the period drama also stars Thibaut Evrard and Oscar Lesage and is sold internationally by SND Groupe M6.
The jury award for best series went to six-part period thriller Swapped, directed by Vania Leturcq and Savina Dellicour and sold internationally by France TV Distribution. The series follows three women from different backgrounds who join forces to carve out a place for themselves in a male-dominated world. Mélissa Silveira’s Diego won the audience award for best short film, while Jocelyn Charles’ animated God Is Shy took the jury prize. Both are sold internationally by Manifest.
The festival reported more than 18,000 attendees for its anniversary edition.
Organised by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a partnership between the DGA, Motion Picture Association, SACEM and Writers Guild of America West, the festival showcased 61 films and series, 59 of which were eligible for awards.
TAFFF 2026 winners
Audience Award – Best Film
De Gaulle (dir. Antonin Baudry)
US distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Critics Award – Best Film
La Gradiva (dir. Marine Atlan)
US distributor: 1-2 Special
First Feature Award
A Place For Her (dir. Mélisa Godet)
International sales: Pathé Films
Documentary Film Award
Whispers In The Woods (dir. Vincent Munier)
International sales: Le Bureau Films
American Students Award
The Green Eyes (dirs. Fanny Liatard, Jérémy Trouilh)
International sales: Kinology
Audience Series Award
Alice: Pioneer Of Cinema (dirs. Virginie Verrier, Guillaume Lonergan)
International sales: SND Groupe M6
Jury Series Award
Swapped (dirs. Vania Leturcq, Savina Dellicour)
International sales: France TV Distribution
Audience Short Film Award
Diego (dir. Melissa Silveira)
International sales: Manifest
Jury Short Film Award
God Is Shy (dir. Jocelyn Charles)
International sales: Manifest
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