Jean-Lu Godard, the godfather of France’s New Wave cinema, died at 91, the newspaper Liberation reported on Tuesday. Godard’s 1960 movie Breathless was an introduction to the new style of French filmmaking.

Here are five lesser-known facts about Jean-Lu Godard

1. Upon the initial release of Breathless in France, the movie attracted over two million viewers. In May 2010, a fully restored version of the movie was released in the United States to coincide with the film’s 50th anniversary. 

2.  He shot a movie without a script. Raoul Coutard stated that the film was virtually improvised on the spot. Godard wrote lines of dialogue in an exercise book that no one was allowed to see. 

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3. In 1968, Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut were amongst those who were a part of the debate for the Cannes festival to be shut down. Godard argued that instead of showing festival films, the forum should be used to screen militant films and documentaries about the events taking place. When the festival administration decided to screen Carlos Saura’s Peppermint Frappe, Godard, Truffaut, and Saura jumped on the stage and held onto the curtain to prevent it from opening. 

4. Godard accepted a commission from the French non-commercial television channel, FR3 to make 100-minute programs to fill slots in the schedule in the summer of 1976. Initially, Godard decided to do six live interviews and discussions, but he was told the programs had to be recorded. He divided the programs into two parts, the first, a little more composed, and the second, simply someone talking. He called the whole series Six fois deux/ Sur et sous la communication. 

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5. He abandoned his studies and applied to be a part of the city’s leading film school, IDHEC. The school rejected his application. He studied films by watching them at Henri Langlois’ Cinematheque Francais and the Ciné-club Quarter Latin.