To mark the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Festival of Films in French, the UWM French program is proud to be screening a special selection of 20 films.

The film festival, which is free and open to the public, runs Feb. 17 to 26 at the Union Cinema.

Tributes to cinema open and close the festival, including “Voyage à travers le cinéma,” a wide-ranging yet very personal documentary by veteran director Bertrand Tavernier, and “Arrête ton cinéma,” a comedy by Diane Kurys, offering an insider’s view of the film-making business.

Journeys through time and space comprise the central theme of this year’s festival. Many films showcase stories from far-flung places, ranging from Senegal to Haiti to Cambodia to Quebec to the Indian Ocean to Morocco and to Iran.

Questions of migration and immigration, of integration, friendship and acceptance, are explored. Two films portray how treacherous travel can become in times of political upheaval.

In this year’s classic film, “Lola,” New Wave director Jacques Demy shows how, although distance makes the heart grow fonder, the reuniting of lovers is always subject to the vagaries of fate.

Finally, our planet itself is the star of the documentary “Demain,” a U.S. premiere, which offers a hopeful horizon for its survival.

For more information, including the full schedule of screenings, go the film festival’s website.