Richard Linklater’s Cannes Competition title Nouvelle Vague had its world premiere the Palais this evening and was welcomed with a 11-minute ovation.
Quentin Tarantino was at tonight’s screening as well and helped lead the long-lasting applause. It was the second time he’d watched the film in about eight hours, having also caught a special screening late Saturday morning.
Quentin Tarantino greets Richard Linklater as Linklater’s ‘Nouvelle Vague’ (‘New Wave’) has its world premiere in #Cannes2025 pic.twitter.com/lofs7qKWUJ
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 17, 2025
An homage to Jean-Luc Godard’s 1959 classic Breathless, the French-language film reconstructs the story behind the film starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg. French actor Guillaume Marbeck plays Godard, Zoey Deutch is Seberg, and newcomer Aubry Dullin portrays Belmondo.
Five-time Oscar nominee Linklater was last in the Cannes Competition with 2006’s Fast Food Nation and played Un Certain Regard with A Scanner Darkly that same year. The filmmaker behind Boyhood and Before Midnight debuted musical drama Blue Moon at this year’s Berlinale.
Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) is the prolific Linklater’s 33rd film and partially takes place here in Cannes. Characters in the nostalgic love letter to cinema, which is told in the style and spirit that Godard made Breathless, include the aforementioned legends as well as Claude Chabrol, François Truffaut, Suzanne Schiffman and Raoul Coutard.
Richard Linklater on the #Cannes2025 red carpet with the cast of his competition film ‘Nouvelle Vague’ (‘New Wave’), about how Jean-Luc Godard shot ‘Breathless’, the 1960 classic that ushered in the French New Wave in cinema pic.twitter.com/w65UrrVIRL
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 17, 2025
In the film’s production notes, Linklater says, “This is not about remaking Breathless, but looking at it from another angle. I want to dive into 1959 with my camera and recreate the era, the people, the atmosphere. I want to hang out with the New Wave crowd. I told all the actors: ‘You are NOT making a period film. You are living in the moment. Godard is a well-known critic, but he’s a first-time director. You’re having fun shooting with him, but you’re wondering if this film will ever be released.’”
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ARP Selection produces and distributes in France. Screenwriters include Holly Gent, Vince Palmo, Michèle Halberstadt and Laetitia Masson. International sales are handled by Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas.
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