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INSPIRATION, creation and sharing- these are the three words that guide Agnès Varda every time she makes a film.
In a masterclass of the Qumra Master’s body of work presented by Richard Pe?a, first- and second-time filmmakers learned more about Varda’s hybrid approach to filmmaking at Qumra 2019.
Pe?a provided an analysis of clips from five of her films: La Pointe Courte (1955), Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), Vagabond (1985), The Gleaners & I (2000), and The Beaches of Agnès (2008).
The ‘grandmother of French New Wave cinema’ is renowned for her unique short films, feature narratives and documentaries and her unique artistic skill in combining all three formats in each of her projects. He said of her work: “Agnès Varda is unique among her contemporaries for the seamless way in which her work flows between documentaries, shorts and feature length films. She pioneered the convergence of genres and formats into what we now call ‘research cinema’. Agnès was interested in very personal self-expression first and foremost, more than just entertainment.”
In the masterclass, Pe?a demonstrated how Varda revolutionised techniques such as discontinuity between shots, handheld camerawork, low lighting and later embraced innovative digital camerawork and mixed media shots.
Born in Belgium in 1928 to a Greek father and French mother, she started as a photographer in the 1950s. In 1954, she became interested in films and used her personal savings and contributions from friends to make La Pointe Courte (1955), which later achieved cult status and established her reputation in the French New Wave. Varda has maintained that the reason for the boldness of her first project was because “I had no idea how to make films”.
On the topic of Varda’s place within French New Wave cinema, Pe?a said: “The problem with French New Wave is that it is very difficult to define. Is it a group of directors, a period, or a style of filmmaking? Within the French New Wave movement there was a difference between Right Bank and Left Bank groups of directors, towards which Agnès leaned to the Left, seeing cinema akin to art, literature and music. She was also influenced by the French feminist movement, although she resisted defining herself through political orthodoxies.”
Varda is much celebrated as a cinematic icon and is often a significant influence on some of today’s most acclaimed filmmakers.
“Through her films and her lifetime curiosity about self-consciousness, Agnès is ultimately telling us about herself,” said Pe?a. “The powerful disarming honesty of her films is what makes us trust her as a filmmaker.”
Richard Pe?a, an internationally renowned expert on film, was professor of Film Studies at Columbia University and Director of the New York Film Festival from 1988 to 2012. He is a familiar face at Qumra, having contributed to previous editions in guiding up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world.
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19/03/2019
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