When the Night Falls (N/C 15+) French Film Festival
Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre, Dumfries, DG2 7BE
Saturday 5th December 2026 4:45PM
When the Night Falls
Original title: La Troisième Nuit
Daniel Auteuil | France | 2026 | 100 mins | N/C 15+ | In French with English subtitles
A righteous Vichy civil servant and a humanitarian priest exploit bureaucratic loopholes to rescue over 100 Jewish children from a deportation camp in 1942 Lyon.
Actor and director Daniel Auteuil tells the story of a relatively unknown chapter in the German Occupation of France: the rescue of Jewish children from Vénissieux in August 1942.The narrative follows Gilbert Lesage, a young civil servant at the Service Social des Étrangers, played by Antoine Reinartz, who is appointed to chair a committee tasked with deciding which Jews will be permitted to leave the internment camp in Vénissieux. A directive from the Vichy regime changes everything. It stipulates that non-accompanied children must not be deported. Certain committee members including Father Glasberg, played by Auteuil, then attempt to save as many children as possible before their deportation.
While other French films this year concentrated on such celebrated figures as De Gaulle or Jean Moulin, Auteuil (on his sixth directorial outing) chooses to tell the story of the unsung heroes. These men and women took incredibly brave action, with no weapons and no desire for glory, simply because they refused to accept the unacceptable. At a time when the last remaining Holocaust victims are disappearing, the film serves as an important reminder of our duty to remember.
"Robust moral thriller, both intellectually chewy and emotionally finely calibrated." - ScreenDaily
Original title: La Troisième Nuit
Daniel Auteuil | France | 2026 | 100 mins | N/C 15+ | In French with English subtitles
A righteous Vichy civil servant and a humanitarian priest exploit bureaucratic loopholes to rescue over 100 Jewish children from a deportation camp in 1942 Lyon.
Actor and director Daniel Auteuil tells the story of a relatively unknown chapter in the German Occupation of France: the rescue of Jewish children from Vénissieux in August 1942.The narrative follows Gilbert Lesage, a young civil servant at the Service Social des Étrangers, played by Antoine Reinartz, who is appointed to chair a committee tasked with deciding which Jews will be permitted to leave the internment camp in Vénissieux. A directive from the Vichy regime changes everything. It stipulates that non-accompanied children must not be deported. Certain committee members including Father Glasberg, played by Auteuil, then attempt to save as many children as possible before their deportation.
While other French films this year concentrated on such celebrated figures as De Gaulle or Jean Moulin, Auteuil (on his sixth directorial outing) chooses to tell the story of the unsung heroes. These men and women took incredibly brave action, with no weapons and no desire for glory, simply because they refused to accept the unacceptable. At a time when the last remaining Holocaust victims are disappearing, the film serves as an important reminder of our duty to remember.
"Robust moral thriller, both intellectually chewy and emotionally finely calibrated." - ScreenDaily
Event Details
Doors Open at 4:25PM
Starts at 4:45PM
