Biography

Agnès Varda

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Agnès Varda was born on May 30, 1928 in Ixelles, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), Vagabond (1985) and Faces Places (2017). She was married to Jacques Demy. She died on March 29, 2019 in Paris, France.

She became a friend of Jim Morrison during his time in Paris, France. Varda was one of only six people to attend Morrison's funeral.
Was the very first director to ever cast Gérard Depardieu, in 1965. The film, called "Christmas Carole" (revolving around Carole, a young comics writer), was never completed due to lack of money. Around 8 minutes were shot, featuring Depardieu, and this was shown at the Cinémathèque Française at the end of the 1990s.
Unlike her friends in the French New Wave associated with Cahiers Du Cinema magazine, and unlike her Left Bank colleague Alain Resnais, Varda had not been a cinephile when she became a filmmaker and had only seen, she said, about ten films by the mid 1950s.
Legally changed her first name from Arlette to Agnès when she turned 18.
Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 58th Cannes International Film Festival in 2005.

They called me 'The Ancestor of the New Wave' when I was only 30. I had seen very few films, which, in a way, gave me both the naivety and the daring to do what I did.
I don't believe in inspiration that arrives like a bolt from the blue - if it doesn't also arise from your body and your immediate lived experience. That's why I always refer to 'subjective documentary'. It seems to me that the more motivated I am by what I film, the more objectively I film.
Regarding this Women's March at Cannes, well, I'm a bit this and that because you say, okay, women should go marching, they should be in the selection committees, associations, we should have equal decision-making...But now if you have famous women in Cannes, that's a bit too chic for me, cinema, because the question is at all levels: in the factories, in the offices, everywhere, not just in the show business. So that is what i have to say to that. I'm always wary of actions that are too spectacular. I think that it's a day to day work everywhere where decisions are being made at all levels. I'm not criticizing... I'm half happy because there were beautiful women, beautiful staircases and beautiful clothes, but I think, sometimes, marching in the streets or having a meeting is more important.
Pour moi, le cinéma est une expérience passionnante et périlleuse parce que j'essaie de trouver une écriture vivante, entre le hasard et le travail.

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