Glasgow Film Theatre, in association with BFI, introduces Agnès Varda Season this month. At 82 years old, Varda is a pioneer of the French New Wave movement of the 1960s alongside iconic Cahiers du Cinéma contemporaries such as François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. The series of four films celebrates the filmmaker’s stunning 55 year career.
The series begins with her second feature, Cleo Form 5 to 7 (1963). The film follows Cléo (Corrinne Marchand), a pop singer who wanders around Paris as she awaits the results of a biopsy. Featuring cameos from Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina, it explores existentialism, despair, and a strong feminine perspective. Cléo screens from Friday 28th to Monday 31st May.
One of Varda’s best known films,Vagabond (1985), screens on Tuesday 1st June. Mona (Sandrine Bonnaire), a nihilistic vagrant, traverses the frosty French wine country where her identity is revealed through her interactions with the locals.
On Sunday 6th June, her documentary The Gleaners and I (2000) explores the practice of ‘gleaning’ – scavenging for leftover food from farms or waste bins. Combining reportage and hand-held camerawork with art and photography, Varda’s investigative film parleys her identity as a filmmaker and as a gleaner.
Agnès Varda season draws to a close with three rarely-screened short films entitled Cinévardaphoto: Salut Le Cubains on Tuesday 8th June. Based on two photographs: one she took of a young Spaniard in 1954 and a portrait of artist Ydessa Hendeles, the film combines music and images in celebration of Cuba.
For full details of screening times and prices, visit the GFT website.
[Image from Wikipedia.]
