The French Cinematheque celebrates Agnès Varda and dedicates an exhibition to her entitled “Viva Varda.” A single textile director, she lived for 90 years and died five years ago from cancer in her old home on Daguerre Street. American director Martin Scorsese and many artistic and political figures mourned her. Her funeral was not delayed. She was buried on the same day in the Montparnasse cemetery next to her lifelong companion, director Jacques Demy. The name of one is not mentioned without the other.
Greek father, French mother. I came to Paris from the south and immersed myself in the cultural exuberance of Saint-Germain’s cafés. Fans of the Seventh Art memorize New Wave films and chant the names of Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol and Rohmer. They forget that the first film in the wave was directed by a woman in 1954. Its title was “The Short Point.”
Agnès Varda produced her film independently. She wrote the script and directed it in the house where she lived in Sète, southern France. She did not study cinema, and she was not concerned about being an artist moving in a male field. A good female is an actress, while a director is a masculine woman. She eschewed the studios and filmed her films in the streets. Her head is haunted by ten projects at once. She mixes with all groups and marches in demonstrations against racism. For seventy years, she has not stopped seeking new experiences and encounters.
She was the owner of seven industries. She has worked as a wedding photographer, screenwriter, editor, actress, producer, director, and university professor. At the age of seventy-five, she became a painter. She has directed dozens of documentaries and feature films. Films that resemble freedom and riding the wings of dreams. Agnès Varda has received countless awards and honors in France and abroad. Hollywood called her in 2017 to present her with the “Oscar of Honor.”
In her house, which resembles her, a visitor can sit on boxes of films or on a stack of magazines. She chose to live on a street that took its name from Louis Daguerre, the photographer, chemist, painter, and inventor of the “daguerreotype,” the origin of the art of photography. She lived in that house all her life. Her office was on the opposite sidewalk. You get down in the morning and step into the nearby “Babilonia” café. Her friend, the Iraqi artist, receives her and offers her mint tea. She eats falafel and follows the movement of passers-by from behind the glass. Everyone in the neighborhood knows her and greets her. Bonjour Madame Varda. Bonsoir Madame Varda. She is the neighborhood watchdog, with her short stature, helmet-like hairstyle, and two-colored hair.
The neighbors woke up one morning to trucks loaded with tons of sand unloading their cargo on the asphalt of the road. He brought a number of lounge chairs, umbrellas, and powerful lamps that turned the place into a sunny beach. The lively street was cut off for three days for the sake of Madame Varda. She was filming a film about her life, recalling scenes from her first films when she was a young woman living on the coast. Since the sea did not come to her, she brought him to Paris. She put on a swimsuit and sunbathed while the camera was rolling.
In Hollywood, director Steven Spielberg bowed as he greeted her. She loves honor and does not want them to treat her like a mummy. She told her companions that she hated being a statue erected on a pedestal. The following year, she was selected to the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. She walked up the stairs on the red carpet accompanied by 80 female filmmakers from all generations. One of them read a statement against producers harassing women and singling out men for first roles and advanced positions. Agnès Varda added the title of feminist activist to her titles. In fact, it is her oldest title.
