FRENCH NEW WAVE

A handheld camera follows a footloose couple as they run giggling down a black and white Parisian street - welcome to French New Wave cinema. This is just one of the seductive scenarios, depicted by a school of innovative directors who made their mark on world cinema between the mid '50s and the mid '60s, that tempted a Paddington film critic to pen his first book. Chris Wiegand, 23, truned his hand to criticism after graduating Enlish Literature, carving out a career writing for websites and U>S. magazine Boxoffice, a book seemed like the next natural step. Chris said: 'There are very few books on the subject, and those that are about are academic and expensive. I thought a readable pocket guide would be useful for students or anyone just wanting to learn more about French cinema.' Some of the genre's more successful movies made the jump from underground to mainstream, adopting a wider influence as they did. Influential films include Franois Truffaut's 'Les Quatre Cents Coups' (400 Blows); Jena-Luc Godard's 'Alphaville' or 'A Bout de Souffle' (Breathless), which was later remade U.S. style starring Richard Gere. 'I'd always been interested in two of the directors included - Truffaut and Godard - for a number of years adn I considered writing a book on a single director, but I thought the movement should be captured because it is very much a school of movie making.' Anyone familiar with the scene will tell you that the French auteurse crossed over to direction from day jobs as film critics - any plans for Chris to make that transition? 'Yes, I have thought about that and ultimately I would like to end up making my own films - maybe something similarly autobiographical like the French New Wave'.