The first time I visited this exhibition I was with a friend; we wandered around the rooms commenting on her curious photography, her quirky and beautiful films, how we’d love to visit Paris, the film Amèlie, whether or not afterward we should get an Aperol spritz. The subsequent times I went alone, quiet Sundays spent in the company of strangers, gathered around wall text each reading the version easiest for us, sitting or standing in hushed dark rooms to watch and re-watch her films. I was struck not only by her creative, unique, and interesting work, her impact, and her influence in her field; but also by how she did so much, was in so many places, met and witnessed and documented these events and people that made history and shaped our society. An artist celebrated now and during her time but still not enough, this exhibition is a truly inspiring celebration of her life’s work and a must-visit while it’s still on.
What: Agnès Varda: Photographing, Filming, Recycling
Where: Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB)
When: 18 July – 8 December 2024
Agnès Varda (Brussels, 1928 – Paris, 2019) was a photographer, filmmaker, visual artist, and pioneer of the Nouvelle Vague, a revolutionary film movement that broke traditional cinematic norms in the late 1950s. One of the few women directors of her generation, she produced a completely unique body of work including over 40 films, including feature films and shorts, fiction and documentary, and embracing both analogue and digital cinema. Working with few resources and limited recognition, she is increasingly viewed as one of the most important creative forces of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, pushing boundaries and uncovering new possibilities of visual language at the height of the explosion of the digital age. The exhibition Agnès Varda: Photographing, Filming, Recycling traces Varda’s evolution as an artist, showcasing her work across multiple media: from film to photography to installations.
At the heart of Varda’s legacy is her unique approach to cine-writing, where she blends visual storytelling with personal, often poetic narration. She seamlessly merged fiction with documentary, and imagination with reality, pushing the boundaries of what cinema could be. Her films, known for their formal innovation and deep sensitivity to their subjects, balanced spontaneity with careful planning. This approach had a profound impact on the Nouvelle Vague, marking her as one of the movement’s most original voices. Varda said, “I don’t want to show but to make people feel a desire to see.”
A key theme of the exhibition is Varda’s deep connection to political and social issues, consistently focusing on marginalised groups through her feminist engagement and support for movements like the Black Panthers. Her films, such as Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) and Sans toit ni loi (1985), blend personal stories with broader societal issues like war, poverty, and gender roles. This global engagement took her to China during Mao Zedong’s Hundred Flowers Campaign, where she documented the revolution through thousands of photos, and to Cuba, where she captured the post-revolution spirit in Salut les Cubains (1964). Varda’s time in 1960s Los Angeles further expanded her work, as she filmed the counterculture, protests, and leaders like Huey Newton in Black Panthers (1968). Returning to LA in the early ’80s, she explored community identity through mural art in Mur Murs (1981). In Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (2000), Varda compassionately highlighted society’s outcasts, using lightweight digital cameras to film with an intimacy that reflected her lifelong curiosity, always centering her subjects’ humanity.
Varda’s commitment to feminism was a crucial aspect of both her life and work. She consistently challenged the depiction of women on screen, shattering stereotypes and creating female characters searching for freedom. Her portrayal of women’s bodies, including nudity, defied male fetishistic voyeurism, offering instead a perspective rooted in liberation and authenticity. Varda was a vocal advocate for women’s place in the film industry, using her platform to denounce structural inequalities. Notably, she participated in the symbolic climbing of the stairs at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, organised by the Collectif 50/50, where she publicly called out the persistent gender imbalances in cinema. Through her work and activism, Varda paved the way for future generations of women filmmakers, challenging an often hostile industry and contributing to the growing presence of women in cinema.
To coincide with the exhibition, La Filmoteca de Catalunya is screening a selection of her most iconic films, celebrating Varda’s enduring influence on global cinema. From her groundbreaking contributions to the Nouvelle Vague to her later documentary works, this exhibition reaffirms Agnès Varda’s status as one of the most original and impactful artists of the 20th century.
Key works to see:
La Pointe Courte (1954), Varda’s debut, merges documentary and fiction, telling two parallel stories: the daily life of fishermen in Sète and a Parisian couple’s troubled marriage. The film’s blend of documentary realism and personal drama, filmed with non-professional actors and real locations, set the tone for the Nouvelle Vague. Its exploration of mundane versus profound moments became a recurring theme in Varda’s work.
L’Opéra-Mouffe (1958), or Diary of a Pregnant Woman, juxtaposes scenes of marginalised people on Paris’s Rue Mouffetard with a pregnant woman’s reflections. Varda’s poetic style blends social commentary with personal narrative, using stark imagery to address poverty while contemplating motherhood. The film’s mix of reality and imagination highlights her unique storytelling approach.
Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) follows a singer, Cléo, over two hours as she awaits biopsy results. Set in near real-time, the film immerses viewers in Cléo’s existential crisis, transitioning from superficiality to a deep exploration of life, death, and connection. Varda’s innovative use of narrative time and structure, set against the backdrop of the Algerian War, makes this one of her most iconic works.
Sans toit ni loi (1985), or Vagabond, reconstructs Mona’s last weeks as a drifter through the perspectives of those she met. Varda’s fragmented narrative explores Mona’s resistance to societal norms and the challenge of fully knowing another person. This haunting portrayal of solitude and freedom won the Golden Lion at the 1985 Venice Film Festival.
Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (2000), or The Gleaners and I, explores marginalisation and poverty through the lives of modern-day gleaners—people who collect what others discard. Using lightweight digital cameras, Varda captures these individuals with empathy and curiosity, while drawing a parallel between her own artistic process and their act of gathering, creating a thoughtful meditation on waste, creativity, and survival.