Forget red carpets and black ties. Grenoble’s Le Maudit Festival is for the real weirdos: the true cinephiles, the lovers of offbeat film. It’s a wild, week-long celebration of cult cinema, radical visuals and underground art. Think more Lynch than Spielberg, and more popcorn-fuelled fever dream than Oscar bait. If you’re craving something cinematic that feels haunted, strange, and downright unforgettable, this is your winter watchlist brought to life – all against the dramatic backdrop of the French Alps.
Here’s how to get involved this January when you fly direct from London Southend Airport to Grenoble.
What is Le Maudit Festival?
Named after the French word for cursed, Le Maudit Festival is Grenoble’s annual celebration of cult and underground cinema. In 2025, it returns for its 6th edition from the 28th January to the 2nd of February – offering a packed programme of late-night screenings, interactive events, and experimental film art installations across the city.
Each year, the festival showcases a genre-bending mix of films – from low-budget horror and surreal animation to vintage sci-fi and punk documentaries. You won’t find your standard blockbusters here. Previous editions have featured everything from 1980s VHS rarities to contemporary arthouse horror and interactive “ciné-performance” mashups.
A few films have already been announced as part of Le Maudit’s 2025 programming. If past years are anything to go by, expect a bold, bizarre and brilliant mix of screenings and events across venues like Cinémathèque de Grenoble, Le Cinéma Juliet Berto, and independent arts spaces throughout the city.
Affordable, Offbeat and Totally Accessible
One of the best things about Le Maudit Festival? Many of the events are free or low-cost – plus, Grenoble itself is one of the most affordable destinations in the French Alps.
Whether you’re spending a long weekend or making a full ski-and-cinema holiday out of it, you’ll only be scared by the horror flicks – not your bank account. Budget hostels and indie hotels are dotted across the city, and local bakeries will keep you fuelled on espresso and pain au chocolat between screenings.
And unlike the intimidating gloss of bigger European film festivals, Le Maudit is welcoming, weird and down-to-earth. Most screenings are open to the public, and the atmosphere is more DIY cinema club than velvet-rope gala.
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Why Grenoble?
Set against a stunning Alpine backdrop, Grenoble is the perfect location for a cult cinema festival. It’s France’s “capital of the Alps” – and while it’s better known for skiing and science than subversive cinema, the city has a thriving underground arts scene and plenty to explore beyond the big screen.
Catch a film, then take the cable car up to the Bastille for mountain views. Wander through the city’s historic centre. Or warm up with local Chartreuse liqueur in a candlelit bar. You can even hit the slopes in nearby Chamrousse or Villard-de-Lans if you fancy mixing movies with the mountains.
Ready to make your winter a little weirder? Fly from London Southend Airport to Grenoble this January – and step into the strange.
Inspired to book your break?
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