Organizers no longer want to be content with screening films or organizing isolated concerts…
Organizers no longer want to be content with screening films or organizing isolated concerts. This year, they want to weave “echoes”. The public will be able to discover an artist’s film in the morning at the Cinémobile or at the Apollo Ciné 8, attend a meeting with him in the afternoon at the Coupe d’Or theater and applaud him on the main stage of the Corderie royale in the evening.
The abundant 2026 program shines with its eclecticism. Alongside major figures of the French-speaking scene such as Vanessa Paradis, Benjamin Biolay, Pomme, Camille and Oxmo Puccino, the event welcomes international big names like the British director Edgar Wright, who came to present his documentary on the Sparks, or the deaf Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Festival-goers will also be able to listen to Cédric Klapisch, Yann Gonzalez, Bruno Monsaingeon and Woodkid and Béatrice Dalle explain their relationship to music in their creation.
For Julie Gayet, this openness is essential: “It’s this idea of not compartmentalizing and restricting oneself to cinema or series. We must also talk about animated cinema or even video games, it’s immersive and essential. »
Féminité et inclusion
The SÅ“urs Jumelles festival also wishes to recall the glaring imbalances in this cultural sector. In France, female screen music composers represent less than 6% of the workforce, filmmakers 26%, and female artists programmed in current music festivals peak at 14%.
To respond to this reality, the 2026 edition finds its climax on Friday June 26, thought of as a true 100% female “sorority day”. As for the professional side of the festival, nearly sixty women will gather, with the presence of international delegations, such as the Alliance for Women Film Composers (AWFC) from the United States and a delegation of African composers. This momentum will extend to the stages and screens, celebrating the talent of the Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet and the singers November Ultra, P.R2B, Mentissa and Charlotte Cardin.
The festival will also make a point of giving back their rightful place to invisible pioneers, like the classical composer Fanny Mendelssohn or the Afro-American jazzwoman Mary Lou Williams. The first will be celebrated with a 100% female classical concert on June 25 at 6:30 p.m., at the Saint-Louis church, while the second will be highlighted in the presence of director Julie Ledru on June 27, with his documentary “Zodiac Suite”.
This desire for inclusion also translates into accessibility for people with disabilities. The festival offers concerts in “chansigne” – musical interpretation in sign language – and programs documentaries on deafness such as “The Way We Move” which follows Amber Galloway, star interpreter in American sign language. She herself will be present at the Rochefort festival. Not to mention fiction on the subject such as “Sorda” directed by Eva Libertad or “A Second Life” by Laurent Slama.
Finally, at Place Colbert, free entertainment will punctuate the day of June 27, culminating in a grand ball punctuated by the most famous cinema soundtracks. Something to delight those who love the refrain and good soundtracks.
