French-Swiss director Jean-Luc Godard, the godfather of France's New Wave cinema, passed away at the age of 91, on Tuesday (13 September), as per a report by the French newspaper, Libération. Godard was best known for his work in classics such as Breathless, Contempt and Alphaville, and was also a key figure in the Nouvelle Vague.
In 1996, his films broke the established French cinema conventions and helped launch a new style of filmmaking, with handheld camera work, existential dialogues, and jump cuts.
Godard was born on 3 December 1930, in Paris's affluent Seventh Arrondissement to a wealthy Franco-Swiss family. His father was a doctor, and his mother was the daughter of the founder of Banque Paribas, a prestigious investment bank at the time.
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