Deauville American Film Festival 2026: Experience the 52nd Edition with AC Private

The Deauville American Film Festival 2026: A 52nd Edition Defined by Excellence

From September 4 to 13, 2026, Deauville once again becomes the European capital of American cinema. For its 52nd edition, the Deauville American Film Festival returns to the Centre International de Deauville, transforming this Normandy resort into a global stage where filmmakers, actors, and discerning cinema lovers converge. Ten days during which the Planches come alive with red carpets, premieres, and encounters that write the history of the seventh art.

A landmark event in the French cultural calendar, the festival draws an international clientele each year — drawn not only by the films themselves, but by the complete experience Deauville offers in September: the salt-tinged Channel air, the half-timbered facades, the palace terraces, and that singular atmosphere where Hollywood glamour dissolves into Norman elegance. For those who wish to experience the 2026 edition without compromise, AC Private orchestrates every detail of your stay, from front-row suites to transfers from Paris.

An Exceptional Jury Presided Over by Roschdy Zem

The 52nd edition promises to be particularly remarkable for the composition of its jury. Roschdy Zem, actor and director whose career embodies a distinctly French vision of artistic rigour, presides over an assembly of personalities whose sensibilities are as diverse as they are complementary.

Joining him are Simon Abkarian, a multifaceted performer shaped by both Paris and Los Angeles; Camille Chamoux, whose sharp and intelligent gaze on the contemporary world finds expression equally on stage and on screen; Cécile de France, a defining figure of European cinema; and Euzhan Palcy, a trailblazer whose body of work has left a lasting mark on the history of world cinema. They are joined by Raphaël Personnaz; Lola Quivoron, a director whose debut feature captivated international critics; Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Prix Goncourt laureate, whose presence speaks to the fertile dialogue between literature and cinema; and Laura Smet, whose name resonates as a living tribute to the legacy of French film.

This jury will deliberate through to the awards ceremony on September 12 — a moment of grace and intensity that festival regulars await with genuine anticipation.

The Official Selection: Thirteen Films Mapping Contemporary America

Thirteen films in competition: that is the number chosen for this edition, a focused selection that favours depth over breadth. Among the titles already drawing the attention of cinephiles, Company by Casey Affleck stands out as one of the most anticipated works of the season. A quietly compelling director and deeply inhabited actor, Affleck confirms with this project his determination to explore narrative territory that mainstream American cinema no longer dares to tread.

Everybody Digs Bill Evans by Grant Gee represents the documentary strand of the selection, exploring the figure of jazz pianist Bill Evans with the precision and sensitivity one would expect from the director of Patience (After Sebald). A film that serves as a reminder that Deauville has always welcomed documentary cinema with the same regard it extends to fiction.

The eleven remaining competition titles together map the contours of contemporary America — its contradictions, its impulses, its shadows — with the kind of prescient clarity that the festival has always excelled at bringing to light before the rest of the world.