VARDA BY AGNÈS

VARDA BY AGNÈS (VARDA PAR AGNÈS), 2019
France | DCP, Color, 115’ | French, English

Varda by Agnès, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival two weeks ago, is an autobiographic, self-critical documentary that makes fun of itself like Varda’s earlier documentary The Beaches of Agnès. In the film, the director incorporates footage edited from various interviews and films together with images she unveiled from her photography albums to focus on her incredible career and life. She addresses her fears and shortcomings as she revisits memories of her time in Paris and Los Angeles. But more importantly, she offers a cross section of her filmography starting with her very first short film. Varda depicts how she learned to look through the camera lens, the transformations in the industry following digitalization, and the new relationship she formed with cinema, which recently transcended the silver screens to spill out of the movie theaters to move into art galleries. As always, she greets the viewers with her playful attitude, fresh energy, and now even wiser than ever.