RECOMMENDED: The Richest Woman in the World, premier in Iceland - closed screening / 2026.01.22. 🎞️ 🇫🇷
Franska kvikmyndahátíðin verður haldin í tuttugasta og sjötta skiptið í Bíó Paradís dagana 23. janúar til 1. febrúar 2026!
Brot af bestu kvikmyndum ársins í samstarfi við Franska sendiráðið á Íslandi og Alliance Francaise de Reykjavík.
The French Film Festival will be held for the twenty-sixth time at Bíó Paradís from January 23 to February 1, 2026!
A selection of the best films of the year in collaboration with the French Embassy in Iceland and the Alliance Francaise de Reykjavík.
Opening event:
Thursday January 22nd 6:30 PM
Evening with Isabelle Huppert after the premiere of the film La Femme la plus riche du monde (The Richest Woman in the World). Featuring Isabelle Huppert in a delicious, tailor-made role, writer/director Thierry Klifa's film. Opening remarks and introduction by Guillaume Bazard, Ambassadeur de France en Islande.
Friday January 23th at 6:15 PM
The film will be shown again with English subtitles. The talk will be moderated in English by filmmaker Vera Sölvadóttir and will take place inside the room after the (public) premiere.
The Richest Woman in the World is a French film about the L’Oréal heiress scandal of the early 2000s. The L'Oréal heiress scandal, known as the "Bettencourt affair," began in 2007 when Françoise Bettencourt Meyers filed a lawsuit against photographer François-Marie Banier for exploiting her mother, Liliane Bettencourt. The scandal grew to include allegations of illegal political donations to Nicolas Sarkozy's 2007 campaign and tax evasion, with key convictions occurring in 2015. The film adaptation of this story, capitalizing on the global financial success of films such as House of Gucci (2021) - the schemes behind the selling-out of the fashion brand - and Maria (2024) - the story of opera personality Maria Calas and her grapple with the entertainment industry - is basically another emancipation vs. power struggle story, much fashinable and marketable these days.
The Cannes-premiering drama spins a darkly playful tale of abus de faiblesse, where billionaire cosmetics queen Marianne Farrère (Isabelle Huppert) invites a dazzling young photographer into her inner circle to be played and manipulated by him to close to outmost. What begins as a glittering professional friendship soon warps into a psychological tug-of-war, pitting family loyalty against ambition in a world where even the richest woman can be dangerously vulnerable and mentally twisted.
"A gift of millions to a young artist sparks a scandal, leading her daughter to uncover alleged political corruption involving a former president."
"A billionaire woman gives hundreds of millions of euros to a younger gay artist she is close to. Her daughter files a complaint for abuse."
Director: Thierry Klifa
Producer: Mathias Rubin
Running time: 2h 3m
Language: French
Cinematography: Hichame Alaouie
>>> The Richest Woman in the World (La Femme la plus riche du monde) Trailer | English subs
>>> FOR MORE: www.festival-cannes.com
>>> ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The richest woman in the world is typically Alice Walton, heiress to the Walmart fortune, with recent estimates placing her net worth over $100 billion, followed closely by Françoise Bettencourt Meyers (L'Oréal) and Julia Koch (Koch Industries), though rankings fluctuate with stock market changes. Walton's wealth comes from her Walmart inheritance, while Bettencourt Meyers' stems from her family's L'Oréal stake, and Koch's from Koch Industries.