Jacques Rozier’s Adieu Philippine is a sunlit, bittersweet gem of the French New Wave, celebrated by the critics at Cahiers du Cinéma on release, yet still curiously overlooked today.

Michel, a TV camera technician, falls in with two aspiring actresses, Liliane and Juliette. When the trio escape Paris for a summer in Corsica, a love triangle unfolds under the shadow of Michel's looming conscription to the Algerian War.

Rozier captures this tension beautifully: the spontaneity and playfulness of youth set against the slow encroachment of responsibility, politics, and adulthood. Improvisation, non-professional performers, and kinetic editing create something that is both breezy and deeply felt.

A perfect entry point into Rozier’s unique, gently anarchic cinema and the first in what we hope will be a summer of happy discoveries.

One of the most original and undersung voices of the French New Wave, Jacques Rozier made films attuned to the beauty and heartbreak of improvised days, chance encounters, and the sun-drenched rhythms of summer holidays. We're delighted to be screening some of his work this summer, to coincide with the release of the wonderful Radiance Films box-set.