CFCC to Host 12th Annual International Film Festival

Cape Fear Community College is proud to announce the return of its 12^th Annual International Film Festival, hosted by the Humanities and Education Department and held January 27 through February 5, 2026. All nine films will be screened in Union Station (502 N. Front Street) in room U-170. All screenings are free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. Each film will be presented in its original language with English subtitles.

  This year’s two-week festival features an exciting lineup of international films, including six French films, two Spanish films, and, new this year, an American Sign Language film.

• Flow

  Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 11:00 a.m.

  Flow is a dialogue-free, visually stunning French-Belgian-Latvian animated film about a solitary black cat whose world floods, forcing it onto a drifting boat with diverse animals like a capybara, lemur, and dog, to survive an apocalyptic, post-human Earth, learning to overcome differences and build a community against a backdrop of environmental collapse and natural beauty, guided by instinct and trust. 

• Mission Kipi

  Wednesday, January 28, 2026, 11:00 a.m.

  Mission Kipi (or Misión Kipi) is a Peruvian documentary about rural teacher Walter Velásquez during the COVID-19 pandemic, who builds a robot named Kipi from scrap to help his dispersed students in Colcabamba continue learning, essentially bringing the school to their homes through this unique technological assistant, highlighting education's adaptability and perseverance. 

• Dahomey

  Thursday, January 29, 2026, 11:00 a.m.

  Dahomey is a dramatized documentary by Mati Diop about the return of 26 royal artifacts, stolen by French colonial troops, from Paris museums back to the Republic of Benin, exploring themes of colonialism, cultural identity, ownership, and the complex politics of repatriation through the perspectives of Benin's youth and the artifacts themselves as they journey home, questioning how a nation rebuilds its history without these stolen pieces. 

• The Count of Monte Cristo

  Thursday, January 29, 2026, 6:00 p.m.

  The Count of Monte Cristo tells the epic story of Edmond Dantès, a young, honest sailor falsely accused of treason by jealous rivals, imprisoned for years, who escapes, finds immense treasure on the Isle of Monte Cristo, and returns as the wealthy, mysterious Count to exact elaborate revenge and find redemption, exploring themes of justice, betrayal, hope, and mercy.

• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

  Friday, January 30, 2026, 6:00 p.m.

  The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a bittersweet French musical about young love (Geneviève & Guy) tragically separated by war (Algerian War), leading to different paths: Geneviève marries a wealthier man after becoming pregnant, while Guy returns from service to find his life changed, eventually marrying someone else, only for them to have a brief, poignant reunion years later as strangers. All dialogue, even casual chat, is sung, set to Michel Legrand's iconic score, creating a vibrant, melancholic tale of lost love, duty, and life's diverging realities.

• Chicken for Linda

  Monday, February 2, 2026, 11:00 a.m.

  Chicken for Linda! is a French animated film about a single mother, Paulette, who unfairly punishes her daughter, Linda, and tries to make amends by promising to cook Linda's favorite meal: chicken with peppers, a dish her late father used to make. The simple request turns into a chaotic, slapstick adventure due to a general strike in Paris, closed grocery stores, and Paulette's own lack of cooking skills, forcing the mother-daughter duo and their neighbors into a frantic, often absurd quest for a live chicken, exploring themes of grief, family, and resilience. 

• 7 Cajas

  Tuesday, February 3, 2026, 12:30 p.m.

  7 Cajas is a Paraguayan crime-thriller about Víctor, a teenage wheelbarrow boy in Asunción's bustling Mercado 4 who dreams of fame and a camera phone; he takes a risky job delivering seven mysterious boxes for $100, but gets caught in a chaotic, life-or-death chase as others try to steal the boxes, unwittingly pulling him and his friend Liz into a dangerous criminal web they don't understand, filled with mistaken identities, suspense, dark humor, and surprising twists. 

• Being Michelle

  Wednesday, February 4, 2026, 1:00 p.m.

  Being Michelle is an award-winning documentary about Michelle, a Deaf and Autistic woman who survived horrific abuse and wrongful incarceration in a system that failed to accommodate her disabilities, focusing on her journey of healing through art and the profound bond she forms with Kim Law, a blind life coach in prison, highlighting themes of resilience, communication, and finding hope amidst systemic failures. 

• The Taste of Things

  Thursday, February 5, 2026, 6:00 p.m.

  The Taste of Things is a French period romance about a renowned gourmet chef, Dodin, and his cook and long-time partner, Eugénie, in 1889 France. Their twenty-year relationship is a culinary partnership built on their shared love for food, but Eugénie resists marrying Dodin. Faced with her refusal, Dodin decides to cook for her himself, leading to a story that explores the connection between love, desire, and the art of cooking.  

CFCC is honored to be the only community college in the nation selected to receive funding from the Albertine Cinematheque Foundation. Albertine Cinémathèque is part of the French For All initiative by Villa Albertine – The French Institute for Culture and Education, and Albertine Foundation, and is made possible with the support from the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC). Additional support from the CFCC Foundation helps make this annual cultural event possible. Over the past eleven years, the festival has shown 53 films to approximately 4,000 viewers.