Chaumont-sur-Loire gardens recreate classic films for 2026 festival

The Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire has launched the 2026 edition of its Festival International des Jardins on April 22, with cinema as the theme. Participants—gardeners, landscape designers, and artists—were asked to create gardens evoking film genres or specific movies. Notable contributors include actresses Sabine Azéma, Golshifteh Farahani, and Mélanie Laurent (with lighting designer Philippe Berthomé), and filmmaker Momoko Seto. Landscape architects Thomas Secondé and Anne-Cécile Freyburger recreate a vegetal Cannes Film Festival with red carpet and cameras. Designer Alexis Tricoire and aquatic landscape creator Romain Le Bescond collaborated on James Cameron's Avatar trilogy (2009–2025). Landscape architect Justine Thomas drew from Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity (1969), incorporating a 19th-century fantascope. The trio Mélanie Tant, Bertrand Pigeon, and Vianney Bera focus on the iconic cinematic kiss. The festival runs from April 22 to November 1, 2026. Separately, the domain's "Saison d'art" features works by Marc Desgrandchamps, Antonio Crespo Foix, Anaïs Lelièvre, Lionel Sabatté, and Eugène Dodeigne.