From the very outset, the Arras Film Festival has opened up to European cinema (90% of the films screened), with a leaning toward the countries of Eastern and Nothern Europe. This benchmark event is today a reference in matters of European cinema and attracts numbers of professionals as well as a large number of European structures and institutions. Its main objectives are to support European creation, circulation of films, and to pass on the taste of European cinema to all audiences, to young people as a priority. Every year, for 10 days in November, the Arras Film Festival offers a programme of 120 feature films to more than 50,000 spectators.

The Festival discovers and highlights new European talents, who participate in European Competition, Eastern films section and European Discoveries. World Cinemas section promotes European co-productions and a large selection of previews presents films intended for a large audience. For children and their families, the Festival offers films appropriate to age groups, play and educational activities and a diversity of workshops. Tributes to celebrated European talents and thematic retrospectives provide a unique opportunity to explore cinema history. Film screenings are enriched with Q&A sessions, round-tables discussions and master classes.

The Festival is also a meeting point for film industry with its two events which welcome more and more participants each year: ArrasDays, a support platform for co-production, and Rencontres du Nord, intended for distributors and exhibitors. Finally, the festival exists throughout the year through its international, national and regional cooperation projects which help distribution of the films along as well as educate and raise awareness among a large number of people.