French auteur Leos Carax appears to have a mysterious new film on the immediate horizon.
Every once in a while, I get asked about the status of Carax’s next film, but given the secretive nature of the French filmmaker, not much info has leaked out, so far. In the meantime, he might have a side project ready to go.
According to a source who attended a Melbourne Cinematheque event on Tuesday, the institution unveiled its 2026 program in person. Among the highlights is a planned “Leos Carax fortnight” scheduled for March, during which curators teased the inclusion of a brand-new Carax film debuting just weeks after its premiere at the Berlinale.
The curators reportedly emphasized that the screening would mark the film’s first appearance outside of Berlin, suggesting a very recent and possibly low-profile premiere at the German festival. No title or details were disclosed, but the wording implies a completed work rather than a project still in development.
As for what the mystery film might be, it is almost certainly not the long-gestating Adam Driver and Léa Seydoux project Carax is expected to shoot sometime next year. The more likely candidate is another self-reflexive or essay-style work in the vein of “It’s Not Me,” which premiered at Cannes in 2024.
Carax, ever the slow burner, has only made six features since his 1984 debut “Boy Meets Girl.” His credits include “Mauvais Sang” (1986), “The Lovers on the Bridge” (1991), “Pola X” (1999), “Holy Motors” (2012), and, of course, “Annette” (2021), which opened the Cannes Film Festival and won him the festival’s Best Director prize.
A new Carax film doesn’t come often. When it does, the world of cinema tends to stop and pay attention. Hopefully this latest one is worth the wait.