The 26th Alliance Française French Film Festival kicks off in Sydney on March 3 before making its way around the country.

A sterling year, we’ve picked our top 10 slices of Gallic cinematic perfection not to be missed.

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Samba

Director: Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache

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Teaming The Intouchables’ breakout star Omar Sy in a romantic misadventure with the inimitable Charlotte Gainsbourg, writer/directors Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache deliver a big-hearted take on the immigration debate in France with Samba. The protagonist hails from Senegal and is stuck doing dishes when all he wants is to be a chef, but when he falls foul of the law, Gainsbourg is his best chance at avoiding deportation as his smitten immigration caseworker.

The Last Hammer Blow (Le Dernier Coup De Marteau)

Director: Alix Delaporte

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Angèle and Tony director Alix Delaporte follows up her impressive debut with The Last Hammer Blow, an affecting drama focused on 14-year-old Victor’s (Romain Paul) ambition to improve his lot. Living an impoverished life in a trailer park with his mum, Nadia (Clotilde Hesme), he tracks down his well-to-do father, Samuel Rovinski (Grégory Gadebois), a renowned conductor who has no idea he exists. A heartfelt yet never cloying affair, the performances are stellar all round, with Paul, in particular, captivating.

Breathe (Respire)

Director: Mélanie Laurent

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Celebrated actress Mélanie Laurent (Now You See Me, Inglorious Basterds) offers up her second feature-length film as director in Breathe. Adapted from the best-selling novel by Anne-Sophie Brasme, it follows the intense teenage bond between the introverted Charlie (Joséphine Japy) and extrovert Sarah (Lou de Laâge). Isabelle Carré also stars as Charlie’s distracted mother, who fails to grasp the enormity of her daughter’s infatuation and the subsequent catastrophic breakdown.

French Riviera, (L’homme Qu’on Aimait Trop) 

Director: André Téchiné

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The seventh collaboration between director André Téchiné and French filmic royalty Catherine Deneuve, French Riviera is a dramatisation of the very real wars that broke out between rival casino owners in 1970s Nice, leading to a mysterious disappearance and a decades-long legal battle. Deneuve plays casino heiress Renée Le Roux, with talented newcomer Adèle Haenel as her daughter Agnès. Shifty but sexy lawyer Maurice Agnelet (Guillaume Canet) comes between the pair, setting the scene for serious trouble.

The Blue Room, (Le Chambre Bleu)

Director: Mathieu Amalric

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Mathieu Amalric’s sophomore feature behind the camera, The Blue Room adapts Belgian author Georges Simenon’s book of the same name. Deeply sexy, this non-linear murder mystery plays out part-sexual thriller, part melodrama. Amalric stars as Julien alongside Léa Drucker’s Delphine, with the pair’s cloak and dagger affair leading to tragic consequences. Handsomely shot, it will keep you guessing until the final frame.

Love At First Fight, (Les Combattants)

Director: Thomas Cailley

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Coming-of-age films tend to follow a rather predictable formula, but not so with writer/director Thomas Cailley’s zingy debut. Carpenter Arnaud (Kévin Azaïs) falls for Madeleine (Adèle Haenel again) while working on a poolroom at her parents’ place. She barely notices him – convinced the end of days are coming, she’s getting her survival on, joining the army and eating sardine shakes for breakfast. The ending fluffs the gender role subversion a little, but it’s such a hoot getting there and there’s real chemistry between the young leads.

Eden

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

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Charting the rise of the French electro scene that spawned Daft Punk and Cassius, Father Of My Children and Goodbye First Love director Mia Hansen-Løve’s Eden, co-written with her brother Sven, himself a key player, is not only a love letter to the music, which is brilliant, but also the people, the places and general zeitgeisty awesomeness. Félix de Givry is brilliant as our slightly dazed DJ protagonist, with a fantastic cameo from mumblecore queen Greta Gerwig.

Marie’s Story (Marie Heurtin)

Director: Jean-Pierre Améri

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There are precious few limits to the power of human communication, as ably demonstrated in Jean-Pierre Améris’ Marie’s Story, based on a historical case. A film about an aggressive deaf and blind girl left in the care of a nunnery may not sound like a golden ticket, but believe us, this one’s a cracker. Newcomer Ariana Rivoire’s bravura performance as Marie, struggling to make herself understood, is powerful stuff indeed, and there’s real beauty in the stoic support she receives from Sister Marguerite (Isabelle Carré).

Diplomacy (Diplomatie)

Director: Volker Schlöndorff

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It’s a surprisingly little known fact that Paris came so close to losing almost all of her world-famous landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. As the Allies marched on the city in August 1944, with the French resistance taking to the streets, an increasingly desperate and unhinged Hitler gave the order for the city to be devastated by a cavalcade of bombs, with a predicted five million casualties.

German director Schlöndorff’s taut set piece, adapted from French playwright Cyril Gély’s play, is a nail-biting two-hander. Niels Arestrup and André Dussollier reprise their stage roles as the Nazi governor in charge of the city’s destruction and the Swedish Consul-General who must attempt to dissuade him. What results is a rapid-fire contest of wits with impeccable performances from two fine actors at their peak.

Girlhood (Bande des Filles)

Director: Céline Ciamma

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The finest offering of this year’s AFFF, the Critics’ Prize-winner Girlhood is a stunning achievement from writer/director Ciamma (Tomboy, Water Lillies). With a searing eye for social realism, the film also looks, feels and sounds incredibly cinematic.

Newcomer Karidja Touré is startlingly good as 16-year-old Mariame who drops out of school and falls in with a girl gang. Delivered with a refreshing refusal to judge or pity, there’s a crackling energy thrumming through every minute of this fascinating film. Showing off the tough outskirts of Paris, so rarely glimpsed on screen, it’s a viscerally thrilling take featuring possibly the best lip-synch scene in cinema, set to Rihanna’s Diamonds, the highlight of a pumping soundtrack. Ciamma is our top tip to watch in years to come, as is Touré.

Also check: The New Girlfriend, Saint Laurent, 3 Hearts, Far From Men, The Bélier Family.