Also known as the Godmother of the French New Wave, Agnès Varda was not only a key figure in modern film history but a beloved artist and activist, whose death we all mourned in March 2019. Born in 1928 in Ixelles, Belgium, Varda moved to Paris for her studies, which she pursued at the Sorbonne and at the École du Louvre. Her career was first devoted to photography, a medium that allowed her to train a keen eye and unique approach towards subjects and composition, which she later transposed into cinema. From 1951 to 1961, she became the official photographer of the Théatre National Populaire, where she discovered her passion for theatre and film. During that period, she released her very first feature-length film, La Pointe Courte (1955), an auspicious debut blending neo-realism, avant-garde, documentary and fictional styles. Whether it’s photographs, feature films, shorts, documentaries or even books, Varda’s voice comes through with a distinctive touch, a signature style that she spoke of as ‘cinematic writing’. In November 2017, she received the Academy Honorary award for her extensive career, which comprises films like Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962), Le Bonheur (1965), Sans toit ni loi (1985) which won her the Lion d’Or, or Visages Villages (2017), a documentary realized in collaboration with French artist JR, which won the top prize for documentary at Cannes.
