Cannes: Renowned American filmmaker Richard Linklater revealed at the Cannes Film Festival that he initially doubted his film Nouvelle Vague—a tribute to the French New Wave cinema—would ever be accepted by French audiences or shown in French theaters because he is an American director.
“Ten years ago, when we were thinking about this movie, I’m not kidding, at the time I said I imagine a film with subtitles. And I thought, they’ll hate that an American director did it,” Linklater shared on Sunday, following the film’s red carpet premiere at the prestigious French Riviera event.
The director behind critically acclaimed works such as Boyhood and Before Sunset recounted his early skepticism: “We’ll show it all over the world, but never in France, because they’ll just hate it.” However, his perspective shifted as he gained enthusiastic collaborators who were deeply connected to the story’s cultural significance.
“But as I got closer to it and I found enthusiastic partners, I realised how much it meant to them,” Linklater said, expressing newfound respect for the film’s subject and the French film community.
Nouvelle Vague is a meticulously crafted black-and-white film, shot in the classic 4:3 aspect ratio with actors delivering their lines entirely in French. The narrative centers on Jean-Luc Godard, widely regarded as one of cinema’s most groundbreaking directors, during the production of his iconic 1960 film Breathless.
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French actor Guillaume Marbeck embodies Godard, while Zoey Deutch and Aubry Dullin portray the legendary couple Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo, respectively. Thanks to comprehensive documentation from the original shoot—including camera notes and reports—Linklater was able to authentically recreate the 20-day filming process.
“I never knew more about a film that I didn’t make,” he admitted, highlighting the extraordinary level of detail that informed his direction.
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Filming in France also gave Linklater an opportunity to praise the country’s film industry and its protective approach toward nurturing cinema. “The U.S. could use a little bit of that,” he noted, contrasting it with the American industry’s challenges.
When asked about the possibility of U.S. President Donald Trump enforcing tariffs on foreign films, Linklater dismissed the idea with a dose of humor: “That’s not going to happen, right? The guy changes his mind like 50 times in one day,” he said.
