France

French director Olivier Assayas has spun his cult 1990s film Irma Vep into a sexy, funny, dizzyingly multilayered TV series.

Emmanuel Macron’s failure at parliamentary polls in June will limit his role on the international stage. Is there anyone out there who could replace him as Europe’s leading political visionary?

It’s impossible to understand France and Macron without understanding the General

The race that transcends time and tides

Six years after the referendum, predictions of a mass exodus from the EU have proved – like so many other things they claimed – wide of the mark

Mortality was never far away – on the screen and, tragically, in real life – for the immortal Jean-Louis, French cinema’s man for all seasons

Sunday’s parliamentary elections reshaped France’s political landscape, with big wins for the far left and right

Sophie Marceau captivated one schoolboy so much he became a Francophile film critic. But what would it be like when they spoke, 40 years later?

A self-confessed “unleashed exhibitionist, chasing headlines”, Collin Dufresne lived the life but on her terms

Quartiers nord is Marseille rapper Alonzo's most affectionate tribute to his hometown yet

The best way to protect, and honour, culturally important objects is to put them on public ownership in museums

The world watched Paris’s greatest treasure burn. Two years on, restoration is beginning in earnest

A new boxed set provides a rare insight into the life and mind of one of the most popular cultural icons of the 20th century during what were to be his final days

Jason Solomons has been to Cannes 25 times as a reporter, critic and presenter. How would he fare at his first as a producer?

Pierre Levegh’s name is forever linked with a dreadful day almost seven decades ago. As the 70th anniversary approaches, maybe his feat deserves to step out from the shadow of the catastrophe

Former French ambassador to London Sylvie Bermann on Brexit’s aftershocks and the battles still to come with Macron and the EU

A miscast Anthony Hopkins sets the tone as Cannes’ opening films disappoint

The French daredevil whose luck ran out in front of two young future Beatles

The former French president takes aim at flippant Boris Johnson, Putin, Orbán and more

The French star's new film sees her scrubbing floors and emptying bins. But it's actors who have it hard, she says

We need a prime minister who isn't driven by a competitive spirit and has a desire to work out what is best for the country. We are unlikely to find those characteristics in a sportsperson

Europe’s most visited tourist attraction had a troubled start to life

The president’s achievements have been underplayed - and they contain lessons for Labour and the Lib Dems

The city had always been kind to stray cats. The mayor said they had never gone hungry, but asks if they really need to house them now as well?

Audrey Diwan’s powerful abortion drama Happening has completed a clean sweep of major awards for female directors. But, she says, real equality is still far away

Emmanuel Macron may have beaten Marine Le Pen in the presidential election, but France has not yet banished fascism

The spectre of Marine Le Pen has been banished - at least for now - but there is plenty for the re-elected president to focus on

The 72-year-old took what she thought was an unwanted jacket from the Paris museum. Her newly acquired coat was actually a work aimed to recreate the garment worn by Picasso

The latest – and last? – novel by Michel Houellebecq, France’s most controversial writer, takes on politics

French presidential polls show the incumbent with a narrow lead, but he has done himself few favours against his reshaped rival

The rebranded right wing presidential candidate is not what she pretends

The French/English stand-up comedian’s comedic cannon rests on poking fun at English and French stereotypes. After living in both countries for years she has no shortage of material