<Nouvelle Vague>> is the latest film by director Richard Linklater, who made the <Before series> and <Boyhood>>. It portrays the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s revolutionary debut <Breathless>, produced in 1959 and released in 1960, which has been hailed as “one of the most important films of the 20th century that changed modern film history.” This year, it was invited to the Competition section of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, receiving an 11-minute standing ovation along with acclaim from leading media and filmmakers. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography at the 98th Academy Awards.

It captures Godard’s journey of breaking existing frameworks and creating his own methods across the entire filmmaking process, from shooting to editing, with vivid, documentary-like imagination.

Linklater said, “What the nouvelle vague taught me was freedom, and it completely changed my life. Jean-Luc Godard is my cinematic idol. He follows no rules and fearlessly overturns conventions.” He added, “The people who made me want to make movies, who made me believe I could make them, who persuaded me that I had to make themthis film is a love letter to them.”

Characters in the film look into the camera to meet the audience’s gaze, and their words and actions emerge jumbled rather than following a logical, linear time.

Within the film, Zoey Deutch plays Jean Seberg, and Aubry Dulain portrays Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Opens on the 31st. 105 minutes. Rated 12 and over.

<My Sunshine>> is the first new film in six years from Japanese director Hiroshi Okuyama, who won the youngest debut director award in the history of the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2019 with <I Don’t Like Jesus>. At last year’s 77th Cannes Film Festival, it was invited to the ‘Un Certain Regard’ section.

Drawing on his childhood experience learning figure skating, Okuyama reportedly filmed some scenes while skating himself. He did not give the child actors scripts, shooting after explaining only the situation. If the script said ‘thank you,’ he would simply tell the child actors, ‘This is a scene of saying thank you.’ As a result, their speech and behavior come across naturally.

In the film, Takuya has neither talent nor interest in hockey, but after seeing Sakura’s beautiful movements, he wants for the first time to skate well. The two become figure-skating ice dance partners, starting out with completely different skill levels and personalities, but gradually find their rhythm together and feel a pure joy. Opens January 7. 90 minutes. All ages admitted