French Film Festival: The Great Arch/ L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche

In 1983, French President François Mitterrand launches an international architectural competition for his flagship project: the Great Arch of La Défense, aligned with the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. To everyone’s surprise, Otto von Spreckelsen (Claes Bang of Bad Sisters fame), an unknown Danish architect, wins the competition. While the architect intends to build his ‘Cube’ exactly as he envisioned, his innovative and daring ideas soon run afoul of the sobering realities of budgets, bureaucracy, and the vicissitudes of politics. Stéphane Demoustier (Festival Guest, 2024) blends humour and pathos in his engrossing account of an overlooked visionary.

Notes by David O’Mahony

Official Selection, Un Certain Regard, Cannes International Film Festival 2025.

Claes Bang will join the IFI French Film Festival screening on Fri 28 Nov for a Q&A hosted by journalist Paul Whitington

Screening as part of IFI French Film Festival 2025.

Director: Stéphane Demoustier

104 mins, France-Denmark, 2025, Digital, Subtitled