The French Collection Film Festival
Dates
Friday 10 January | Opening night | 5.30pm doors open, 7pm screening
Sunday 12 January | 1pm and 4pm
Sunday 19 January | 1pm and 4pm
Standard | $15
Opening night | $20 (includes Empress Josephine's Garden casual viewing experience)
Discount
Double Feature Pass (Sundays) | $25
Festival Season Pass (excluding Opening night) | $45
Festival Season Pass (including Opening night) | $50
Membership
Friend Members receive 15% off ticket pricing for this event.
Enhance your visit and add on Empress Joséphine's Garden experience to your ticket (admission fees apply)
Site access information
WA Maritime Museum is mostly accessible, excluding tours aboard the HMAS Ovens. Call 1300 134 081 for assistance. More about accessibility and amenities >
Experience French History Through Film: A celebration of Napoleon, Joséphine, and Garden Elegance.
Settle in for a film festival that delves deep into the rich tapestry of French heritage, exploring the lives of Napoleon and Joséphine, the monarchy, the empire, gardens, and more.
Take a cinematic journey into the decadent, glamorous and tumultuous era of change in French history. This curated collection of films is designed to fill your senses and ignite your imagination, celebrating the drama, romance, courtly intrigue, political upheaval and love of gardens that defined Joséphine’s world at Malmaison.
Don’t miss opening night, featuring the grand portrayal of Empress Joséphine and her Emperor, in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon (2023).
Full program
Napoleon (2023) MA 15+ Drama. 2hrs 38min
Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Joaquin Phoenix
Exhibition viewing: From 5.30pm
Film screening: 7pm
Cashless bar available
Enjoy the big screen spectacular of Ridley Scott’s epic, placing Joséphine Beauharnais at the centre of the new French Empire.
The film chronicles the rise and fall of the French Empire, showcasing French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix) and his tumultuous path to power through the lens of his intense, volatile relationship with his wife, Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby). Amidst the French Terror, the couple endures personal and political upheaval, facing the mounting pressure to secure a legacy with an heir as they navigate the challenges of a new regime.
Ridley Scott’s epic scenes were famously captured in camera with little digital effect enhancements.
Les Misérables (2012) PG-13 Musical. 2hrs 38min
Directed by Tom Hooper. Starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.
Film screening: 1pm
Enjoy a screen extravaganza for a French musical classic with modern film moments with Tom Hooper’s wildly successful version of Les Misérables. The legendary musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (based on the Victor Hugo story) is brought to life with the innovative technique of featuring live singing, crafting a contemporary approach to the musical film.
Capturing the intimacy of dramatic performances alongside the grandeur of the story, the French Revolution is vividly depicted through passionate struggle against poverty, politics and a wildly imagined future free from oppressive aristocratic rule. An all-star cast brings the story to the screen, featuring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter.
The French Dispatch (2021) M Comedy, Drama. 1hr 47min
Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Elisabeth Moss and Owen Wilson.
Film screening: 4pm
A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch Magazine".
This je ne sais quoi anthology of quirky stories, French styling and visual delights features a classic all-star Wes Anderson ensemble cast including Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton and Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Elisabeth Moss and Owen Wilson.
Madame Bovary (2014) M Drama. 1hr 58min
Directed by Sophie Barthes. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Rhys Ifans, Ezra Miller and Paul Giamatti.
Film screening: 1pm
Bored in her marriage to a country doctor and stifled by life in a small town, the restless Emma Bovary pursues her dreams of passion and excitement, whatever they may cost.
This contemporary interpretation of Flaubert’s classic French novel has been described by Hollywood News as “a thing of beauty, majestic and enchanting”. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Rhys Ifans, Ezra Miller and Paul Giamatti.
A Little Chaos (2014) M Drama. 1hr 57min
Directed by Alan Rickman. Starring Kate Winslet, lan Rickman and Stanley Tucci
Film screening: 4pm
Two talented landscape artists become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. The exquisite gardens are the stage for Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet) in her new position of power and responsibility, where gender and class barriers are a challenge as she navigates her way through this project with the court's renowned landscape artist Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts).
Featuring sparkling character performances by Alan Rickman as the Sun King and Stanley Tucci as the Duc d’Orleans, this tale of passionate gardening and romance in the halls of courtly power features lavishly beautiful scenery and costuming.
Related exhibitions
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Empress Joséphine's garden — a world filled with colour, wonder, discovery, and surprise.
