Conference on “La Nouvelle Vague”, a movement in art film
Prof. Sophie Delaney presents a lecture in French:
"The Human Experience in New Wave Cinema"
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Friday, March 6 at 7:00PM.
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The event will take place at:
L'Alliance Française de St. Louis
930 N. McKnight Road
St. Louis, MO 63132
To Attend:
Please send an e-mail to: societefrancaisestl@gmail.com
The French New Wave: Cinema as Revolution
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La Nouvelle Vague, or the French New Wave, was a groundbreaking film movement that emerged in the late 1950s and 1960s, forever changing how movies were made. Born from a group of passionate film critics who became directors, the movement rejected the polished, studio-bound conventions of traditional French cinema in favor of something raw, personal, and daring.
These young filmmakers embraced handheld cameras, natural lighting, and location shooting. They used jump cuts and improvised dialogue to create a spontaneous, realistic style that felt urgent and alive. Their films explored existentialism, alienation, youth rebellion, and the search for meaning in a changing world. At the heart of the movement was the auteur theory: the belief that a director's personal vision made them the true author of a film.
Working with limited budgets and drawing inspiration from Italian Neorealism and film noir, the New Wave directors proved that independent, low-budget films could be both artistically powerful and influential. Their revolution in filmmaking rippled across the globe, inspiring movements like New Hollywood and the British New Wave, and paving the way for generations of independent filmmakers who valued artistic freedom and social commentary above all else.