Ten Milestones in French Cinema

1959 - Birth of the Nouvelle Vague

After years of watching films at the Cinémathèque and writing about them in Cahiers du Cinéma, a handful of would-be filmmakers try their hand at a new type of cinema - low budget, hand-held camera, improvised direction, non-linear narrative and a penchant for the jump cut. Dubbed the New Wave, many of its films are today considered masterpieces, such as "The 400 Blows", "Breathless" ("À Bout de Souffle") and "Hiroshima Mon Amour".