AFFFF26 Leave One Day

Making waves in 2025 as the first-ever debut feature selected to open the Cannes Film Festival, Amélie Bonnin’s joyously entertaining musical romance stars breakout singer/songwriter Juliette Armanet as a talented Parisian chef forced to reconnect with her small-town upbringing during an unexpected trip home. Cécile (Armanet) – a fan-favourite Top Chef winner – is about to finally realise her dream and open her own restaurant when her father, the cook at a small rural truck stop, falls unwell. Cécile must deal with a return to her roots that is more complicated than she imagined; when she runs into her teenage first love (César Awardwinner, Bastien Bouillon), old memories and sensations resurface... and then her fiancé, who senses something’s wrong, shows up. Evocatively depicting regional France and the complications of family life with tenderness and wit, LEAVE ONE DAY interweaves music naturally into the story, blending several classics with more recent hits by artists such as Stromae and Céline Dion. Armanet, herself one of France’s most popular contemporary artists, performed John Lennon’s “Imagine” during the Paris Olympic Games’ opening ceremony and proves to be a shining discovery in this warm-hearted and completely endearing gem.