Homage to a master of New Wave Cinema

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Jean-Luc Godard receives the cultural prize from the Fondation Leenaards, Lausanne, 2013 (Keystone) Keystone

Jean Seberg and Jean-Paul Belmondo in "A bout de souffle", ("Breathless"), 1960 (Keystone/Allpix Press/Cineliz) Keystone

Jean-Pierre Léaud and Juliet Berto in "La Chinoise", 1967 (AFP/Gueville/Parc/Simar/Anouchka/Athos/Kobal Collection) AFP

"Weekend", 1967 (AFP/Kobal Collection) AFP

Godard filmed a demonstration in Paris on May 7, 1968 (Keystone/Rue des Archives) Keystone

Godard and Brigitte Bardot on the set of "Le mépris", ("Contempt"), 1963 (Keystone/Rue des Archives) Keystone

Yves Montand and Jane Fonda in "Tout va bien", 1972 (Keystone/Picture Alliance) Keystone

Godard and his wife Anne Wiazemsky, around 1970 (Keystone/Heritage Images) Keystone

Pierre Leroy and Macha Méril in "Une femme mariée", ("A Married Woman"), 1964 (akg images) akg-images

Godard taking part in a demonstration against the sacking of Henri Langlois, the director of the Cinémathèque Française, September 12, 1968 (Keystone/Rue des Archives) Keystone

Godard with Maruschka Detmers on the set of "Prénom Carmen", (First Name: Carmen"), 1983 (Keystone/Rue des Archives) Keystone

"One plus one/Sympathy for the devil": in the studio with the Rolling Stones, 1968 (AFP/Kobal Collection/Cupid Productions) AFP

"Socialisme", 2010 (Keystone/Itar-Tass) Keystone

Godard at the"Grand Prix Design" award ceremony in 2010 in Zurich (Reuters) Reuters

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One of film-making’s true visionaries and virtuoso in the use of language, Jean-Luc Godard has inspired and continues to inspire generations of film directors around the world. Now aged 84, and with around 100 works to his name, the French-Swiss artist is the recipient of the 2015 Swiss Film Honorary Award.

Godard was born in Paris on December 3, 1930 to Swiss parents and studied ethnology at the Sorbonne. After having worked as a film critic, he made his first short film on the construction of the Grande Dixence Dam in Switzerland in 1955.  In 1960 he burst onto the international stage with his first full-length feature “Breathless”, (“À bout de souffle”). The film, which stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg, came to be considered a seminal masterpiece of the emerging Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement. The rebellious and experimental filmmaker has produced around 100 works – many of which have influenced cinematic history – during his 50-year-career. His subversion of traditional narrative structures, however, has sometimes challenged the cinema-going public, which since the 1980s has increasingly stayed away from his films, judging them to be too complex.

His most recent film “Adieu au langage”, (“Goodbye to Language”), premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 and went on to win the Jury Prize.