A panoramic view of what it was like to come of age in 1970s Europe, Assayas’ latest period epic follows Gilles, a high school student in Paris torn between the revolutionary spirit of the time and his dream of being a painter and filmmaker. Surrounded by friends consumed by their own political passions, Gilles is forced to come to terms with a world in which the artist’s world has become uncertain. Vividly recreating the atmosphere of the era with a meticulous attention to period detail, Assayas’ semi-autobiographical--which premiered in competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival—follows its young hero from Italy to England in search of a life of his own.