The Cinematheque

“A grand, warmhearted testament to her lifetime of creative connections, her art of self transformation, and her relentless transformation of the art of cinema itself.”

Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Premiered at Berlinale only a month before her death, Varda by Agnès is the great Agnès Varda’s farewell film. A documentary by way of illustrated lecture, this reflective swansong traces Varda’s inimitable career over its 64 years, interspersing thoughtfully curated clips from her extraordinary oeuvre with narrated ruminations on an artistic life lived with passion and integrity. (Her mantra: inspiration, creation, sharing.) Varda, as playful, quizzical, and unpretentious as ever, covers all facets of her creative universe, from photo-journalism to filmmaking (or ​“cine writing”), feminism to philosophy; a chapter dedicated to her under-known installation art is particularly absorbing. What is abundantly clear is that the 90-year-old cinéaste, cognizant of her limited days, wished to impart these totems of wisdom to a new, especially female, generation of artists. May her influence be as eternal as the films she leaves behind. Viva Varda!