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Ross Keane, Director/CEO, Irish Film Institute; Jana Solovjova, Marketing Manager Peugeot & DS Automobiles, Gowan Auto; Stephen Boylan, Director of Marketing and Partnerships, Irish Film Institute Photo: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland
July 30th 2026: The Irish Film Institute (IFI) and Peugeot Ireland are excited to announce today a new two-year sponsorship agreement. This agreement will see Peugeot take two-year naming rights to the IFI’s annual flagship French Film Festival to create the PEUGEOT IFI FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL for the 2026 and 2027 editions. The biggest French cultural event in Ireland, the festival saw an unprecedented 30% audience growth between 2024 and 2025.
The inaugural IFI x Peugeot collaboration on the 2025 festival was recently nominated for a Business to Arts Award in the Small Arts Partnership category.
This partnership continues the ongoing successful collaboration between the IFI and Gowan Auto. Gowan Auto, the exclusive importer and distributor of Peugeot in Ireland, first supported the IFI French Film Festival via their DS Automobiles brand in 2022, before migrating its sponsorship to Peugeot in 2025.
Each year, the IFI French Film Festival presents the very best of French and French-language cinema to IFI audiences. Now in its 27th year, the festival continues to grow and, in the past, has welcomed guests including Oscar winners Juliette Binoche and Jacques Audiard, Oscar-nominated director Agnès Jaoui, actor Claes Bang (Bad Sisters) and BAFTA winner Philippe Claudel. This year’s festival will run from 18th to 29th November.
This partnership closely aligns with THE LION LOVES CINEMA, Peugeot’s global engagement with film and cinema. In 2025, Peugeot amplified its presence in global cinema through strategic partnerships, product placements, original digital content, and exclusive events across its communication channels and commercial networks. This began with high-profile activations at the 2025 César Awards, the French Oscars, and at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
As The Lion Loves Cinema campaign was rolled out across France and in other territories, the home of the IFI French Film Festival became the perfect Irish home for Peugeot.
By aligning with such a high-profile social and cultural event, alongside partners including the Embassy of France in Ireland, Unifrance, and the Alliance Française, Peugeot has helped to further highlight the exceptionally strong commercial and cultural ties between France and Ireland. Peugeot supports the festival’s role in broader cultural conversations and the IFI’s status as a vibrant and popular social space.
Supporting emerging French talent is also a key pillar of Peugeot’s strategic plan: in line with its long-term vision, the organisation aims to encourage a new generation of creatives, promoting a forward-looking approach to cinema. This aligns with the IFI’s strategic focus of uplifting new talent through strands such as Irish Focus and introducing a new generation of filmmakers to audiences through its festival, seasonal and ongoing monthly programming.
Speaking about the partnership, IFI Director/CEO Ross Keane said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Peugeot on board as title sponsor of the IFI French Film Festival for 2026 and 2027. Our collaboration since 2022 has been invaluable and has resulted in a noticeable positive step-change for the festival, our visiting filmmakers, and our audiences. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with them, and our other festival partners, to make the 2026 and 2027 festivals an even bigger success.’
Jana Solovjova, Marketing Manager for Peugeot and DS Automobiles, added: ‘We are thrilled to build on our long-standing partnership with the Irish Film Institute by becoming title sponsor of the Peugeot IFI French Film Festival. As an iconic French brand, supporting one of Ireland’s leading celebrations of French cinema is a natural extension of Peugeot’s commitment to creativity and culture. Through our global The Lion Loves Cinema platform, we are proud to champion the power of storytelling while supporting both established and emerging filmmaking talent. We look forward to working with the IFI to continue growing this exceptional event over the next two years.’
The IFI is principally funded by the Arts Council.
About the IFI
The Irish Film Institute (IFI) is Ireland’s national cultural institution for film. It provides audiences throughout Ireland with access to the finest independent, Irish and international cinema, including online via its streaming platform IFI@Home; it preserves and promotes Ireland’s moving image heritage through the IFI Irish Film Archive, and provides opportunities for audiences of all ages and backgrounds to learn and critically engage with film. As the only cinema with a 70mm projector, the IFI is the home of film in Ireland with a commitment to analogue exhibition.
About Peugeot Ireland
Founded in 1810, Peugeot is one of the world’s most iconic French brands. With more than 215 years of innovation, Peugeot continues to combine its rich heritage with cutting-edge design, advanced technology and a commitment to sustainable mobility. Today, Peugeot offers a comprehensive range of passenger cars and commercial vehicles, including hybrid and fully electric models. Represented in Ireland by Gowan Auto, the official importer and distributor of Peugeot vehicles since 1969, the brand is supported by a nationwide network of authorised dealers committed to delivering exceptional customer service and ownership experiences across Ireland.
A PRIVATE LIFE 16.10
AN IRISH ATLANTIC RAINFOREST 14.00, 18.30
ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: CONCRETE PROOF (PROGRAMME 1) 13.10
IFI FAMILY: MY FATHER’S DRAGON 12.30
NOSTALGHIA (4K RESTORATION) 18.00
ON THE SEA 15.00, 20.35
THE INVITE 20.40
THE ODYSSEY 12.10, 16.00, 19.50
The IFI is supported by The Arts Council
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