In the Hauts-de-Seine (92), the Saint-Cloud Park hosted, on the evening of Thursday, June 18, 2026, a 600-drone show honoring the Appeal of 18 June by General de Gaulle. Organized by the Silenzio agency, with Magic Drone piloting the fleets, the evening marked the 86th anniversary of this pivotal speech for the Resistance and accompanied the release of the film The Battle of Gaulle.
During the night, the silhouette of General de Gaulle, seen from behind as he faced his microphone, appeared in the sky, echoing the call broadcast from London in 1940. Three words then flashed across: “Resist. Disobey. Hope.” Through a series of luminous tableaux drawn from Free France and the Resistance, some sequences directly recalled scenes from the first installment, L'Âge de fer.
The film The Battle of Gaulle is a two-part feature directed by Antonin Baudry, with Simon Abkarian portraying General de Gaulle. The first installment, The Iron Age, arrived in theaters on June 3, 2026, and the second, I Write Your Name, is set to debut on June 26, 2026. Adapted from historian Julian Jackson’s book, both films revisit the 1940–1944 period—from France’s collapse to the Liberation of Paris. The cast also includes Benoît Magimel, Niels Schneider and Thierry Lhermitte.
On June 18, 1940, broadcasting from London, General de Gaulle issued his call on the BBC to continue the fight, an act regarded as a foundational moment for the Resistance. The film is currently playing in cinemas, notably at Pathé venues.
The film crew attended the tribute, including actor Simon Abkarian, who plays the General on screen. "I feel the myth still hovers over France's night," he said, expressing his emotion at seeing that History remains alive and has not slipped into oblivion.
The Fête du Cinéma runs from Sunday, June 28 to Wednesday, July 1, 2026, with every screening priced at 5 euros, giving audiences a chance to see the two installments on the big screen. The schedule for screenings and previews is available on the official site labatailledegaulle.com, with the film distributed in Pathé cinemas.
In short, what followed was an astonishing display that beautifully lit up the sky over Saint-Cloud Park, not long after the evening storms had rolled through. If some were surprised, you now know why.
