Agnès Varda
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Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer. Varda's work employed
location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...
in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier and more common to film indoors, with constructed sets and painted backdrops of landscapes, rather than outdoors, on location. Her use of non-professional actors was also unconventional for 1950s French cinema. Varda's feature film debut was '' La Pointe Courte'' (1955), followed by '' Cléo from 5 to 7'' (1962), one of her most notable narrative films, '' Vagabond'' (1985), and '' Kung Fu Master'' (1988). Varda was also known for her work as a documentarian with such works as '' Black Panthers'' (1968), '' The Gleaners and I'' (2000), '' The Beaches of Agnès'' (2008), '' Faces Places'' (2017), and her final film, '' Varda by Agnès'' (2019). Director
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
described Varda as "one of the Gods of Cinema". Among several other accolades, Varda received an Honorary Palme d'Or at the 2015
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
, becoming the first female director to win the award, a
Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...
for ''Vagabond'' at the 1985
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
, an
Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...
, and a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Academy Honorary Award, Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. The ...
for ''Faces Places'', becoming the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar. In 2017, she became the first female director to win an honorary Oscar.


Early life and education

Varda was born Arlette Varda on 30 May 1928 in
Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...
, Brussels, Belgium, to Christiane (née Pasquet) and Eugène Jean Varda, an engineer. Her mother was from Sète, France, and her father was a member of a family of Greek refugees from
Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
in the
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. She was the third of five children. Varda legally changed her first name to Agnès at age 18. She left Belgium with her family in 1940 for Sète, where she spent her teenage years and during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, she lived there on a boat with her family. Here started her life-long friendship with the sculptor Valentine Schlegel. Varda studied art history at the École du Louvre and photography at the , before working as a photographer at the Théâtre National Populaire in Paris. Varda attended the Lycée et collège Victor-Duruy, and received a bachelor's degree in literature and psychology from the Sorbonne. She called her relocation to Paris "truly excruciating", saying it gave her "a frightful memory of my arrival in this grey, inhumane, sad city." She did not get along with her fellow students and called classes at the Sorbonne "stupid, antiquated, abstract, ndscandalously unsuited for the lofty needs one had at that age."


Photography career

Varda intended to become a museum curator, and studied art history at the École du Louvre, but decided to study photography at the Vaugirard School of Photography instead. She began her career as a still photographer before becoming one of the major voices of the Left Bank Cinema and the
French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...
. She maintained a fluid interrelationship between photographic and cinematic forms: "I take photographs or I make films. Or I put films in the photos, or photos in the films."Darke, Chris. "Agnes Varda." ''Sight & Sound'', vol. 25, no. 4, April 2015, pp. 46–50. ''Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text'', EBSCO''host.'' Varda discussed her beginnings with the medium of still photography: "I started earning a living from photography straight away, taking trivial photographs of families and weddings to make money. But I immediately wanted to make what I called 'compositions.' And it was with these that I had the impression I was doing something where I was asking questions with composition, form and meaning." In 1951, her friend Jean Vilar opened the Théâtre National Populaire and hired Varda as its official photographer. Before accepting her position there, she worked as a stage photographer for the Theatre Festival of Avignon. She worked at the Théâtre National Populaire for ten years from 1951 to 1961, during which time her reputation grew and she eventually obtained photo-journalist jobs throughout Europe. Varda's still photography sometimes inspired her subsequent motion pictures. She recounted: "When I made my first film, '' La Pointe Courte''without experience, without having been an assistant before, without having gone to film schoolI took photographs of everything I wanted to film, photographs that are almost models for the shots. And I started making films with the sole experience of photography, that's to say, where to place the camera, at what distance, with which lens and what lights?" She later recalled another example:
I made a film in 1982 called ''
Ulysse Ulysse, the French spelling of Ulysses, is a masculine French given name. Notable people with the name include: *Ulysse Adjagba Ulysse Adjagba (born 27 March 1993) is a French professional basketball player who currently plays for Aix Maurie ...
'', which is based on another photograph I took in 1954, one I'd made with the same bellows camera, and I started ''Ulysse'' with the words, 'I used to see the image upside down.' There's an image of a goat on the ground, like a fallen constellation, and that was the origin of the photograph. With those cameras, you'd frame the image upside down, so I saw Brassaï through the camera with his head at the bottom of the image.
In 2010, Varda joined the gallery Nathalie Obadia.


Filmmaking career

Varda's filmmaking career predates the French New Wave, but contains many elements specific to that movement. While working as a photographer, Varda became interested in making a film, although she stated that she knew little about the medium and had only seen around 20 films by the age of 25. She later said that she wrote her first screenplay "just the way a person writes his first book. When I'd finished writing it, I thought to myself: 'I'd like to shoot that script,' and so some friends and I formed a cooperative to make it." She found the filmmaking process difficult because it did not allow the same freedom as writing a novel; she said her approach was instinctive and feminine. In an interview with '' The Believer'', Varda said that she wanted to make films that related to her time (in reference to ''La Pointe Courte''), rather than focusing on traditions or classical standards.


''La Pointe Courte'' (1954)

Varda liked photography but was interested in moving into film. After spending a few days filming the small French fishing town of Sète, in the old fisherman's quarter of La Pointe Courte, for a terminally ill friend who could no longer visit on his own, Varda decided to shoot a feature film of her own, leaving the artistic direction in the hands of her friend Valentine Schlegel. Thus, in 1954, Varda's first film, ''La Pointe Courte'', about an unhappy couple working through their relationship in a small fishing town, was released. The film is a stylistic precursor to the French New Wave.Neupert, Richard. ''A History of the French New Wave Cinema'', University of Wisconsin Press, 2007. Pg. 57. At the time, Varda was influenced by the philosophy of Gaston Bachelard, under whom she had once studied at the Sorbonne. "She was particularly interested in his theory of ',' in which certain personality traits were found to correspond to concrete elements in a kind of
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
of the material world." This idea finds expression in ''La Pointe Courte'' as the characters' personality traits clash, shown through the opposition of objects such as wood and steel. To further her interest in character abstraction, Varda used two professional actors, Silvia Monfort and
Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student a ...
, combined with the residents of La Pointe Courte, to provide a realistic element that lends itself to a documentary aesthetic inspired by neorealism. Varda continued to use this combination of fictional and documentary elements in her films.Fitterman-Lewis, Sandy, ''To Desire Differently'', Columbia University Press, 1996, pp. 215–245. The film was edited by Varda's friend and fellow "Left Bank" filmmaker Alain Resnais, who was reluctant to work on it because it was "so nearly the film he wanted to make himself"; Resnais's 1959 film '' Hiroshima mon amour'' would later feature a similar structure. Resnais and Varda remained lifelong friends, though Resnais said they had nothing in common "apart from cats". The film was immediately praised by '' Cahiers du Cinéma'':
André Bazin André Bazin (; 18 April 1918 – 11 November 1958) was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist. He started to write about movies in 1943 and was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'' in 1951 ...
said, "There is a total freedom to the style, which produces the impression, so rare in the cinema, that we are in the presence of a work that obeys only the dreams and desires of its auteur with no other external obligations."
François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...
called it "an experimental work, ambitious, honest and intelligent." Varda said that the film "hit like a cannonball because I was a young woman, since before that, in order to become a director you had to spend years as an assistant." But the film was a financial failure, and Varda made only short films for the next seven years. Varda is considered the grandmother and mother of the French New Wave. ''La Pointe Courte'' is unofficially but widely considered the first film of the movement. It was the first of many she made that focus on issues ordinary people face. Late in her life, she said that she was not interested in accounts of people in power but "much more interested in the rebels, the people who fight for their own life".


''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (1961)

After ''La Pointe Courte'', Varda made several documentary short films; two were commissioned by the French tourist office. These include one of Varda's favorites of her own works, ''L'opéra-mouffe'', a film about the Rue Mouffetard street market which won an award at the 1958 Brussels Experimental Film Festival. '' Cléo from 5 to 7'' follows a pop singer through two extraordinary hours in which she awaits the results of a recent biopsy. The film is superficially about a woman coming to terms with her mortality, a common trope for Varda. On a deeper level, ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' confronts the traditionally objectified woman by giving Cléo her own vision. She cannot be constructed through the gaze of others, which is often represented through a motif of reflections and Cléo's ability to strip her body of "to-be-looked-at" attributes (such as clothing or wigs). Stylistically, ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' mixes documentary and fiction, as had ''La Pointe Courte''. The film represents
diegetic Diegesis (; , ) is a style of fiction storytelling in which a participating narrator offers an on-site, often interior, view of the scene to the reader, viewer, or listener by subjectively describing the actions and, in some cases, thoughts, o ...
action said to occur between 5 and 7 p.m., although its run-time is 89 minutes.


''Daguerréotypes'' (1976)

'' Daguerréotypes'' is a 1976 documentary film directed by Agnès Varda, capturing the lives of shopkeepers and residents along Rue Daguerre, a small street in Paris where Varda lived. The film takes its title from both the name of the street and the term "
daguerreotype Daguerreotype was the first publicly available photography, photographic process, widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre and introduced worldwid ...
," reflecting Varda’s fascination with preserving fleeting moments in time. Through a series of intimate vignettes, the documentary explores the routines, stories, and relationships of local bakers, butchers, tailors, and other small business owners. With its static camera work and observational approach, the film offers a heartfelt and authentic portrayal of a community rooted in tradition amidst the evolving urban landscape. Widely regarded as a time capsule of 1970s Paris, Daguerréotypes exemplifies Varda’s ability to find poetry in everyday life and elevate the mundane into something profoundly human.


Ciné-Tamaris (1977)

In 1977, Varda founded her own production company, Ciné-Tamaris, in order to have more control over shooting and editing. In 2013, the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
held Varda's first American exhibition, ''Agnès Varda in Californialand''. It featured a sculptural installation, several photographs, and short films, and was inspired by time she spent in Los Angeles in the 1960s.


''One Sings, the Other Doesn't'' (1977)

Produced by Cine-Tamaris, ''L'une chante, l'autre pas''—otherwise known as '' One Sings, the Other Doesn't''—focuses on two women over the span of 14 years during the Women's Movement of 1970s France. 22-year-old Suzanne is pregnant with a third child she can not afford. 17-year-old singer Pomme pays for Suzanne to have an abortion. Pomme becomes a pop singer and feminist, forming a group dedicated to women's liberation, while Suzanne raises her children and writes about life on the farm. The story follows the two as they live their separate lives but keep in touch throughout the years.


''Vagabond'' (1985)

In 1985, Varda made '' Sans toit ni loi'' ("without roof nor law"; known in most English-speaking countries as ''Vagabond''), a drama about the death of a young female drifter named Mona. The death is investigated by an unseen and unheard interviewer who focuses on the people who last saw her. ''Vagabond'' is told through nonlinear techniques, with the film divided into 47 episodes, and each episode about Mona told from a different person's perspective. ''Vagabond'' is considered one of Varda's greater feminist works because of how the film deals with the de-fetishization of the female body from the male perspective.Hayward, Susan. "Beyond the Gaze and Into Femme-Filmécriture." ''French Film: Texts and Contexts.'' By Susan Hayward and Ginette Vincendeau. London: Routledge, 2000. 269–80. Print. 8-June-2012


''Kung-Fu Master!'' (1988)

Kung-Fu Master! is a 1988 French drama film directed by Agnès Varda. The narrative centers on Mary-Jane, a woman in her forties, who becomes romantically involved with Julien, a 14-year-old boy and classmate of her daughter, Lucy. The film delves into themes of unconventional love, societal taboos, and the loneliness of adulthood, offering a nuanced portrayal of complex human emotions.
Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 â€“ 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...
stars as Mary-Jane, with Mathieu Demy, Varda's son, portraying Julien, and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Lucy, adding depth to the familial dynamics explored in the story. The film's title references Julien's fascination with the arcade game "Kung-Fu Master," which serves as a recurring motif, symbolizing his youthful escapism and the generational gap between the two protagonists. Social Commentary: ''Exploration of Isolation and Connection'': Varda uses the controversial relationship between Mary-Jane and Julien to comment on the pervasive loneliness in modern society. Mary-Jane's emotional vulnerability highlights how adults often struggle to find meaningful connections, leading them to seek companionship in unexpected and socially fraught circumstances. The film challenges viewers to confront their own biases about love, age, and human needs, pushing the boundaries of societal norms. ''Critique of Gender Expectations'': By portraying Mary-Jane’s relationship with a younger male in a sympathetic yet critical light, Varda draws attention to the double standards in how society judges women’s romantic choices. While male characters in similar scenarios are often romanticized, Kung-Fu Master! provokes a more nuanced discussion about power dynamics, agency, and the societal pressures placed on women to adhere to conventional roles. Kung-Fu Master! was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 38th
Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
, highlighting its critical recognition. Although polarizing due to its subject matter, the film remains a bold exploration of taboo relationships and human vulnerability, cementing Agnès Varda’s reputation as a fearless storyteller who refuses to shy away from difficult questions.


''Jacquot de Nantes'' (1991)

In 1991, shortly after her husband
Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, screenwriter and lyricist. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrated ...
's death, Varda created the film '' Jacquot de Nantes'', which is about his life and death. The film is structured at first as being a recreation of his early life, being obsessed with the various crafts used for filmmaking like animation and set design. But then Varda provides elements of documentary by inserting clips of Demy's films as well as footage of him dying. The film continues with Varda's common theme of accepting death, but at its heart it is considered to be Varda's tribute to her late husband and their work.


''The Gleaners and I'' (2000)

'' Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse'' (''The Gleaners and I''), a documentary, focuses on Varda's interactions with gleaners (harvesters) who live in the French countryside, and also includes subjects who create art through recycled material, as well as an interview with psychoanalyst
Jean Laplanche Jean Laplanche (; 21 June 1924 – 6 May 2012) was a French author, psychoanalyst and winemaker. Laplanche is best known for his work on psychosexual development and Sigmund Freud's seduction theory, and wrote more than a dozen books on psych ...
. The film is notable for its fragmented and free-form nature along with it being the first time Varda used digital cameras. This style of filmmaking is often interpreted as a statement that great things like art can still be created through scraps, yet modern economies encourage people to only use the finest product.Cruickshank, Ruth "The Work of Art in the Age of Global Consumption: Varda's Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse." ''L'esprit Créateur'' 47.3, (2007): pg. 119–132 Project MUSE. Web. 8-June-2012


''Faces Places'' (2017)

In 2017, Varda co-directed '' Faces Places'' with the artist JR. The film was screened out of competition at the
2017 Cannes Film Festival The 70th Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2017, in Cannes, France. Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was the president of the jury for the main competition. Italian actress Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closing cerem ...
where it won the L'Å’il d'or award. The film follows Varda and JR traveling around rural France, creating portraits of the people they come across. Varda was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Academy Honorary Award, Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. The ...
for this film, making her the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar. Although the nomination was her first, Varda did not regard it as important, stating: "There is nothing to be proud of, but happy. Happy because we make films to love. We make films so that you love the film." The film ends with Varda and JR knocking on
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
's front door in Rolle for an interview. Godard agreed to the meeting but "stands them up".


''Varda by Agnes'' (2019)

The last film Varda directed, ''Varda by Agnes'' features Varda watching and discussing her films and work. She recounts her 60-year artistic journey through photography and filmmaking. She expresses the importance of three key words: inspiration, creation, and sharing. The film shows Varda sitting and reflecting on the things she loves, such as her husband, cats, colors, beaches, and heart-shaped potatoes.


Style and influences

Many of Varda's films use protagonists that are marginalized or rejected members of society, and are documentary in nature. She made a short film on the Black Panthers after seeing that their leader, Huey Newton, was arrested for killing a police officer. The film focuses on demonstrations in support of Newton and the " Free Huey" campaign. Like many other French New Wave directors, Varda was likely influenced by auteur theory, creating her own signature style by using the camera "as a pen". Varda called her method of filmmaking "" ("cinematic writing" or "writing on film"). Rather than separating the fundamental roles that contribute to a film (such as cinematographer, screenwriter, and director), she believed that all roles should work together simultaneously to create a more cohesive film, and all elements of the film should contribute to its message. She claimed to make most of her discoveries while editing, seeking the opportunity to find images or dialogue that create a motif. Because of her photographic background, still images are often significant in her films. They may serve symbolic or narrative purposes, and each element of them is important. There is sometimes conflict between still and moving images in her films, and she often mixed still images (snapshots) with moving images. Varda paid very close attention to detail and was highly conscious of the implications of each cinematic choice she made. Elements of the film are rarely just functional, each element has its own implications, both on its own and that it lends to the entire film's message. Many of her influences were artistic or literary, including
Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
,
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 â€“ July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
,
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 â€“ 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...
, and
Nathalie Sarraute Nathalie Sarraute (; born Natalia Ilinichna Tcherniak (); – 19 October 1999) was a French writer and lawyer. She was nominated in 1969 for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Nobel Committee member Lars Gyllensten. Personal life Sarraute wa ...
.


Involvement in the French New Wave

Because of her literary influences, and because her work predates the French New Wave, Varda's films belong more precisely to the Left Bank (''Rive Gauche'') cinema movement, along with those of Resnais,
Chris Marker Chris Marker (; 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012) (born ''Christian-François Bouche-Villeneuve'') was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and Essay#Film, film essayist. His best known films are ''La Jetée' ...
,
Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...
,
Alain Robbe-Grillet Alain Robbe-Grillet (; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the ''Nouveau Roman'' () trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simo ...
, Jean Cayrol and Henri Colpi. Categorically, the Left Bank side of the New Wave movement embraced a more experimental style than the ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' group, but this distinction is ironic considering that the New Wave itself was considered experimental in its treatment of traditional methodologies and subjects. Left Bank Cinema was strongly tied to the ''nouveau roman'' movement in literature. The members of the group had in common a background in documentary filmmaking, left-wing politics, and a heightened interest in experimentation and the treatment of film as art. Varda and other Left Bank filmmakers crafted a mode of filmmaking that blends one of film's most socially motivated approaches, documentary, with one of its most formally experimental approaches, the avant-garde. Its members often collaborated with each other. According to scholar Delphine Bénézet, Varda resisted the "norms of representation and diktats of production."


As a feminist filmmaker

Varda's work is often considered feminist because of her use of female protagonists and her creation of a female cinematic voice. She said, "I'm not at all a theoretician of feminism. I did all that—my photos, my craft, my film, my life—on my terms, my own terms, and not to do it like a man." Although not actively involved in any strict agendas of the feminist movement, Varda often focused on women's issues thematically and never tried to change her craft to make it more conventional or masculine. She was also Professor of Film at The European Graduate School. Bénézet has argued for Varda's importance as "a woman of singularity" (), and of the utmost importance in film history. Varda embraced her femininity with distinct boldness.


Personal life and death

In 1958, while at a short film festival in
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
, Varda met her future husband,
Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, screenwriter and lyricist. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrated ...
, also a French director. They moved in together in 1959. She was married to Demy from 1962 until his death in 1990. Varda had two children: a daughter, Rosalie Varda (born 1958), from a previous union with actor Antoine Bourseiller (who starred in ''Cléo from 5 to 7''), and a son, Mathieu Demy (born 1972), with Demy. Demy legally adopted Rosalie Varda. Varda worked on the Oscar-nominated documentary ''Faces Places'' with her daughter. In 1971, Varda was one of the 343 women who signed the
Manifesto of the 343 The Manifesto of the 343 Women () is a French petition penned by Simone de Beauvoir, and signed by 343 women, all publicly declaring that they had had an illegal abortion. The manifesto was published under the title, "" (), on 5 April 1971, in iss ...
admitting they had had an abortion despite it being illegal in France at the time and asking that abortion be made legal. That same year, she was one of only four people to attend the funeral of her friend Jim Morrison at
Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
. Varda was the cousin of the painter Jean Varda. In 1967, while living in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Varda met her father's cousin for the first time. He is the subject of her short documentary ''Uncle Yanco''. Jean Varda called himself "Yanco" and was affectionately called "uncle" by Varda due to their age difference. Varda died from
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
on 29 March 2019 in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, at the age of 90. She was buried at
Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...
on 2 April. Among those who attended her funeral were Catherine Deneuve,
Julie Gayet Julie Gayet (; born 3 June 1972) is a French actress and film producer.< ...
, Jean-Pierre Léaud,
Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 â€“ 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...
, and Sandrine Bonnaire. Mourners left flowers and potatoes outside her house on rue Daguerre. Her death drew a passionate response from the filmmaking community with
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
releasing a statement writing, "I seriously doubt that Agnès Varda ever followed in anyone else's footsteps, in any corner of her life or her art. Every single one of her remarkable handmade pictures, so beautifully balanced between documentary and fiction, is like no one else's—every image, every cut … What a body of work she left behind: movies big and small, playful and tough, generous and solitary, lyrical and unflinching … and alive." Barry Jenkins tweeted, "Work and life were undeniably fused for this legend. She lived for every moment of those 90 damn years". Ava DuVernay wrote about her relationship with Varda, ending her statement with "Merci, Agnes. For your films. For your passion. For your light. It shines on." Other filmmakers and artists who paid tribute to Varda include
Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...
, the
Safdie brothers Josh Safdie, Joshua Henry Safdie (born April 3, 1984) and Benny Safdie, Benjamin Safdie (born February 24, 1986) are independent American filmmakers and actors based in New York City, who frequently collaborate on their films. They are best know ...
,
Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...
, JR and
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
.
Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
sent Varda's daughter Rosalie (who produced ''Faces Places'') "a kind of photo collage of Agnès ... It was something special. It's a secret. But he sent me something nice. I think he cared for Agnès a lot. He saw all her films", she said.


Awards and honors

Varda has achieved the rare feat of winning the most important accolades: a Hollywood Oscar, a Berlin Bear, a Venice Lion, a honorary Palme from Cannes and several Césars. She has been a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1983. Below is an incomplete list focussing on the major prizes. * Varda's first feature length film ''La Pointe Courte'' immediately won her the Prix de l'Âge d'Or in Brussels, Belgium (where she had lived between 1928 and 1940 before her family fled to Sète, where the film is set). * Her second film ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' received much acclaim and nominations, and won two minor awards. * Her third feature film ''Le Bonheur'' (1965) won her a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. * In 1984 she received her first of three
César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...
for her movie short ''Ulysse''. * For the 1985 documentary-style feature film ''Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi)'', she received the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...
of the
42nd Venice International Film Festival The 42nd annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 26 August to 6 September 1985. Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi was the Jury President of the main competition. The Golden Lion winner was '' Vagabond'' directed by Agnès Var ...
. * On 24 February 2001 she received an
Honorary César The César Award is France's national film award. Recipients are selected by the members of the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of ...
for her film work so far. (Charlotte Rampling also received one the same night.) * In 2002, she was the recipient of the French Academy prize, the '' René Clair Award''. * On 4 March 2007, she was appointed a Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit of France. * In February 2009, '' The Beaches of Agnès'' won the Best Documentary Film award at the 34th César Awards. * On 12 April 2009, she was made Commandeur de la
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. * In May 2010, Varda received the Directors' Fortnight's 8th Carosse d'Or award for lifetime achievement at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
. * On 22 September 2010, Varda received an honorary degree from
University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...
, Belgium. * In 2012 the City of Brussels decides to rename the Ecole de Photographie de la Ville de Bruxelles after her; the official unveiling of ''L’Ecole de Photographie et de Techniques Visuelles Agnès Varda'' is on 2013-09-25. * On 14 May 2013, Varda was promoted to Grand Cross of the
Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
of the French republic. * On 22 May 2013, Varda received the 2013 FIAF Award for her work in the field of film preservation and restoration. * On 10 August 2014, Varda received the Leopard of Honour award at the 67th
Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
. She was the second female to receive the award after Kira Muratova. * On 13 December 2014, Varda received the honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the
European Film Academy The European Film Academy is a group of European film director, filmmakers who come together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. Every year, the European Film Academy honors films an ...
. * On 24 May 2015, Varda was the first woman to receive an honorary
Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
. * On 16 April 2017, Varda was promoted to of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
. * Varda was included in Cinema Eye's 2017 list of "Unforgettables". * At the time of her death, Varda was the oldest person to be nominated for an
Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Mot ...
. She received it on 11 November 2017 for her contributions to cinema, making her the first female director to receive such an award. The prize was presented to her by
Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...
at the 9th Annual Governors Awards ceremony. She was nominated two months later for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her documentary ''Faces Places'', becoming the oldest nominated person at the show (she was eight days older than fellow nominee James Ivory). * In 2017 Varda also won L'Å’il d'or (The Golden Eye, The Documentary Prize - Cannes) for ''Faces Places''. * In 2019 she received a second major award at the Berlin International Film Festival, viz. the ''Berlinale Kamera''. * In 2019, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
polled 368 film experts from 84 countries to name the 100 best films by women directors. Varda was the most-named director, with six different films on the list: '' The Beaches of Agnès'', '' One Sings, the Other Doesn't'', '' The Gleaners and I'', '' Le Bonheur'', '' Vagabond'', and the number-two entry on the list, '' Cléo from 5 to 7''.


Major exhibitions and retrospectives

* ''Agnès Varda, L’île et elle'', Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris, France. 18 June – 8 October 2006. * ''Agnès Varda'' at Bildmuseet, Umeå University, Sweden. 2 June 2013 – 18 August 2013. * ''Agnès Varda in Californialand'' at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...
(LACMA), USA, 3 November 2013 – 22 July 2014. * ''Agnès Varda - Patates & Compagnie'' at the Museum of Ixelles in Brussels, Belgium, 25 February – 29 May 2016. * ''Agnès Varda'' at Blum Gallery, New York, USA, 2 March – 15 April 2017. * ''Varda: A Retrospective'' at the
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
, New York, USA, 20 December 2019 – 6 January 2020. * ''Valentine Schlegel par Agnès Varda'' in Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris, France, 5 November – 19 December 2020. * ''Agnès Varda Expo 54'' at Institut pour la Photographie, Lille, France, 8 October – 5 December 2021. * ''Agnès Varda - My First Life'' at the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, Finland, 13 May – 28 August 2022. * ''Das dritte Leben der Agnès Varda'' at Silent Green in Berlin, Germany, 9 June – 20 July 2022. * ''Agnès Varda – Plages, Cabanes et Coquillages'' in Cannes, France, 8 July – 20 November 2022. * ''Viva Varda!'': a retrospective exhibit at the
Cinémathèque française A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...
, Paris, France, 11 October 2023, to 28 January 2024. * ''Director's Inspiration: Agnès Varda'' at the
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a film museum opened in 2021 located in Los Angeles, California. The first large-scale museum of its kind in the United States, it houses more than 13 million objects, and is dedicated to the history, sc ...
in Los Angeles, USA, until 5 January 2025.


Filmography


Feature films


Short films


Television work


Publications

* ''La Côte d'Azur, d'azur, d'azur, d'azur'', collection Lieu-dit, Les éditions du Temps (1961) * ''Varda par Agnès'', Les Cahiers du Cinéma (1994, reprint 2005) * ''Sans toit ni loi: un film d'Agnès Varda'', L'Avant-scène Cinéma, 92 pp. (2003) * ''L'île et elle: Agnès Varda'', Actes Sud, 81 pp. (2006) * ''Les Plages d'Agnès: texte illustré du film d'Agnès Varda'', collection Mémoires de César, éditions de l'Œil, 108 pp. (2010) * ''Agnès Varda Interviews'', University Press of Mississippi (2013-12) * ''Agnès Varda: Director's Inspiration'', DelMonico Books (2023-11-10) * ''Viva Varda!'', Editions de la Martinière (2023-10-06) * ''Varda par Agnès - l'intégrale'', Editions de la Martinière (2023-11-03)


References


Further reading

* * * *DeRoo, Rebecca J. (2018). ''Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art.'' University of California Press. . *Joanna Bruzdowicz et al. ''Sight and Sound''; June 2019, pp. 12–13: "Agnès Varda, 1928–2019"


External links


Agnès Varda
at Ciné Tamaris *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varda, Agnes 1928 births 2019 deaths Academy Honorary Award recipients César Honorary Award recipients Directors of Golden Lion winners Belgian emigrants to France Belgian people of Greek descent Photographers from Brussels Commanders of the Legion of Honour Deaths from breast cancer in France École du Louvre alumni Academic staff of European Graduate School French cinematographers French feminists French film editors French film producers French people of Greek descent French photographers French screenwriters French women cinematographers French women film directors French women photographers French women screenwriters People from Ixelles French women film editors Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery French women film producers Signatories of the 1971 Manifesto of the 343 20th-century French women writers 20th-century French writers Counterculture of the 1960s French documentary film directors French women documentary filmmakers