In Paris in 1959, Jean-Luc Godard shoots his debut film À Bout de Souffle in 20 days, which later becomes a legendary classic. The film marks the beginning of Nouvelle Vague, a new movement in French cinema. 

Godard, who until then had been a film critic writing for the renowned Cahiers du Cinéma, decided that making films himself was the best form of criticism. He obtained funding for a low-budget film and adapted François Truffaut's screenplay about a gangster couple to his own style. Despite doubts from the cast and crew about Godard's unusual working methods, his debut proves to be a huge success, attracting more than 2.5 million viewers in France, winning awards for Godard and earning a BAFTA nomination for lead actress Jean Seberg.

Nouvelle Vague by acclaimed director Richard Linklater (Boyhood) is a stylish and comical tribute to the making of Jean-Luc Godard's À Bout de Souffle, in the spirit of the French movement. In characteristic black and white and with a wink, the film reconstructs the making of the famous classic and celebrates the art of filmmaking, the French Nouvelle Vague and its legendary figures.