Paris, 1959. The epicentre of cinephilia and the lunatics are taking over the asylum. The Young Turks of French film crit — Truffaut, Chabrol, Rohmer, Rivette — are making their own movies, and last in line, it seems to him, is arrogant Swiss intellectual Jean-Luc Godard. Trading on his friendship with Truffaut, he’s granted a low budget to shoot a noir-ish crime story with American starlet Jean Seberg and boxer Jean Paul Belmondo. He’ll write it as they make it. A bout de souffle… Breathless… will change everything.
“All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun.” Godard’s aphorism applies here, but implacable self-confidence helps. JLG (Guillaume Marbeck) infuriates his actors, his producer, and the whole crew with his cavalier and incomprehensible conceits, all of which is vastly amusing to watch. Richard Linklater plunges us into the scene with the giddy enthusiasm, and the spirit is infectious. You don’t have to be a cinephile going in — you will be one when you come out.
Supported by
Zooey Deutch, Guillaume Marbeck, Aubry Dullin
France
2025
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Emmanuel Montamat, John Sloss
Producer
Laurent Pétin, Michèle Pétin
Screenwriter
Holly Gent, Vincent Palmo Jr., Michèle Halberstadt, Laetitia Masson
Cinematography
David Chambille
Editor
Catherine Schwartz
Production Design
Katia Wyszkop
Richard Linklater
Filmography: Slacker (1990); Dazed and Confused (1993); Before Trilogy (1995-2013); Bernie (2011); Boyhood (2014); Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood (2022)
Missing VIFF? Check Out What's Playing at the VIFF Centre
Akashi
In Mayumi Yoshida’s tender drama, struggling artist Kana journeys to Tokyo to attend her grandmother’s funeral. While there, she reconnects with her childhood love and stumbles across a family secret that prompts her to reconsider her place in the world.
The History of Concrete
After attending a workshop on pitching saccharine Hallmark movies, John Wilson tries to apply all the same best practices to his documentary about concrete. Frequently absurd and endlessly entertaining detours, asides, and digressions ensue.
NAZA
NAZA is a codeword euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike. This chilling documentary exposes the policy and process of state-sanctioned mass killings.
I Am Not a Witch
Rungano Nyoni's acclaimed debut feature is a visually striking satire about a 9-year-old orphan accused of witchcraft in contemporary Zambia. Screening in the latest African Cinema Now! series, The Witch at the Edge of the Screen.
Queen at Sea
An academic is pitted against her stepfather in a moral crisis over the care of her mother, who lives with dementia. Winner of the Silver Bear Jury Prize and Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance at the 2026 Berlinale.
Image: © Seafaring