Three new films in cinemas, between the splendour of theatre, the anxiety of motherhood and linguistic confusion

Paris – 25.07.2026: The cinema week, which began on Wednesday, 22 July, offers three films that could hardly be more different and yet revolve around a common question: what happens when roles, expectations and reality can no longer be clearly distinguished? The French comedy “De la Comédie-Française”, Hanna Bergholm’s horror film “Nightborn” and Ulrich Köhler’s drama “Gavagai and Other Misunderstandings” take very different approaches.

At first, “De la Comédie-Française” seems to be the lightest of the three. Martin Darondeau and Bertrand Usclat wrote the film together with Pauline Clément and brought the renowned theatre company itself in front of the camera. Florence Viala, Guillaume Gallienne, Laurent Stocker, Julie Sicard and numerous other ensemble members appear in the film. The title does not refer to a documentary, but rather to a comedy in which a tradition-rich stage observes itself with refreshing self-irony.

It is indeed a small event: the Comédie-Française, founded in 1680 and often simply called Le Français, is the oldest still-existing theatre company in France. Its cinematic release brings to the screen an institution that is usually associated with the Salle Richelieu in the heart of Paris. The encounter between the rigidly structured theatre world and the more mobile, unpredictable film format promises a particular irony of its own. The film runs for 75 minutes and was released in France on 22 July.

Hanna Bergholm‘s Finnish director’s film “Nightborn” works in an entirely different way. Following her debut “Egō”, she remains true to body horror, the genre that translates inner conflicts into unsettling bodily images. Starring Seidi Haarla, Rupert Grint and Pamela Tola, the 92-minute film explores motherhood, overwhelm and the feeling of being at the mercy of a threat that is almost impossible to name. Bergholm draws on Finnish folklore without losing sight of the present.

Those looking less for fright than for the friction between perspectives will find it in “Gavagai and Other Misunderstandings”. Ulrich Köhler’s German-language drama begins with the chaotic filming of an adaptation of “Medea” in Senegal. German actress Maja and her colleague Nourou meet again at a premiere in Berlin; a racist incident changes an already fragile situation. The film is interested in what gets lost between languages, countries and personal memories.

This does not result in a unified weekly programme, but in a fascinating triptych. “De la Comédie-Française” invites viewers to an intelligent self-parody of a national cultural institution, “Nightborn” to a dark fairy tale about the ambivalences of parental love, and “Gavagai and Other Misunderstandings” to a patient observation of cultural and emotional translation work. This time, cinema-goers can choose between the bustle of the stage, a nervous thrill and a reflective relationship drama: an unusually intelligent selection for the warm days of July.