Coming to Sydney and Melbourne as part of the Sydney Film Festival is an Agnès Varda retrospective entitled Viva Varda, in which a selection of her feature length and short films will be shown.
Agnès Varda was born in Belgium but lived the majority of her life in France, having moved there with her parents during the Occupation. She spent some time in the United States but it was Paris that she called home right up until her passing just two months ago on 29 March 2019.
Varda’s work was central to the development of the Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) film movement of the 50s and 60s. She made films which focused on documentary, feminist issues and social commentary all the while “blurring the boundaries between art and life” which Daniel Trilling noted in Sight & Sound, meant that “[t]o watch one of her films is to be drawn gently into an entire world.”
The films being screened in the retrospective traverse the French countryside, the Parisian streets Agnès Varda called home and sunny California, where Varda made some of her most astounding and singular works as a director.
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SYDNEY
Viva Varda will screen as part of the Sydney Film Festival, which runs from 5 – 16 June.
As part of the Sydney Film Festival “Viva Varda” program strand, there are 14 films, including some short films which will screen with a feature length film as noted below:
- La Pointe Courte – 12 June
- Cléo from 5 to 7 – 13 June
- Lions Love (…and Lies) – 14 June
- Vagabond – 16 June
- Daguerréotypes – 15 June
- Réponse des femmes (screening with Daguerréotypes) – 15 June
- Documenteur – 15 June
- Uncle Yanco (screens with Documenteur) – 15 June
- Mur Murs – 15 June
- Black Panthers (screens with Mur Murs) – 15 June
- The Gleaners and I – 16 June
- Salut les Cubains (screens with The Gleaners and I) – 16 June
- Jane B. Par Agnès V – 16 June
- The Beaches of Agnès (ONLY AT SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL) – 16 June
All film details, session times and ticketing is available at the following link:
https://www.sff.org.au/program/strands/viva-varda
For die-hard Agnès Varda fans, there is a Viva Varda package which entitles you to see all 14 films mentioned above for a significantly discounted price – $140 instead of $21 per screening .
Also screening at the Sydney Film Festival is “Varda by Agnès” which was her last film, which is not a part of the Viva Varda retrospective.
You can see it on 8 and 15 June. Session times and tickets are available here.
In addition, there is also a free talk entitled “An Audience Guide to Varda” about the influence and impact of Agnès Varda’s work being given by Kristy Matheson, curator of the retrospective. It will be held on 8 June.
MELBOURNE
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in conjunction with Sydney International Film Festival will be screening the Viva Varda retrospective from 21 to 20 June.
It comprises 15 films, including some short films across 11 sessions:
- Varda by Agnès – 21 June
- La Pointe Courte – 22 June
- Cléo from 5 to 7 – 22 June
- Lions Love (…and Lies) – 23 June
- Le Bonheur (ONLY AT MELBOURNE RETROSPECTIVE) + Uncle Yanco – 24 June
- Daguerréotypes + Réponse de femmes – 25 June
- Vagabond – 27 June
- Jane B. for Agnès V. – 28 June
- Documenteur + Black Panthers – 29 June
- Mur Murs – 29 June
- The Gleaners & I + Salut les Cubains – 30 June
Also a part of Viva Varda is a talk “Varda in the USA” – 23 June.
All film details, session times and ticketing is available at the following link:
https://www.acmi.net.au/events/viva-varda
What’s your favourite Agnès Varda film?
