VIVA VARDA: THREE CLASSICS BY AGNÈS VARDA
In the month of International Women’s Day, and her passing in 2019 at the age of 91, we celebrate one of the most important female filmmakers; the grand-mêre of the French Nouvelle Vague, Agnès Varda. After focussing on her more recent work in december ’19 we’ve decided to this time put the emphasis on her breakthrough, early cinema with the three wonderful classics La Pointe Courte, Cléo de 5 à 7 en Le Bonheur.
Agnès Varda may bear the intimidating title of ‘grandmother of the French New Wave’, and be lauded as a pioneering member of the Left Bank, but her work is surprisingly accessible. She was an endlessly curious filmmaker whose interest in the margins of society and female subjectivity, together with her vocational background in photography, resulted in a playful and fiercely political body of work.
She coined her own term for the kind of cinema she makes, cinécriture, to illustrate her unique storytelling techniques. Unlike many of her peers, Varda wasn’t a film buff when she started out. Instead, she looked to her imagination, taking inspiration from literature, music, art, single images, real life, cats and heart-shaped potatoes. On the subjects she captures she said: “I love filming real people; I love to connect with the kind of people we don’t know so well.”
Please note that all these screenings will feature English subtitles!
