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{{Short description|French filmmaker and photographer (1928–2019)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Agnès Varda
| birth_name         = Arlette Varda
| image              = Identite-AgnesVarda-1962-Sacem.jpg
| caption            = Varda in 1962
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=y|1928|5|30}}
| birth_place        = [[Ixelles]], Brussels, Belgium
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=y|2019|3|29|1928|5|30}}
| death_place        = Paris, France
| education          = [[University of Paris]]
| occupation         = Director, screenwriter, editor, producer, installation artist, photographer
| years_active       = 1951–2019
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Jacques Demy]]|1962|1990|end=died}}
| children           = {{ubl|[[Rosalie Varda]]|[[Mathieu Demy]]}}
| awards             = 
| notable_works      = {{Unbulleted list
 |''[[La Pointe Courte]]'' (1955)
 |''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]'' (1962)
 |''[[Vagabond (1985 film)|Vagabond]]'' (1985)
 | ''[[The Gleaners and I]]'' (2000)
 |''[[Faces Places (film)|Faces Places]]'' (2017)
 }}
}}

'''Agnès Varda''' ({{IPA|fr|aɲɛs vaʁda|lang|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Exilexi-Agnès Varda.wav}}; born '''Arlette Varda'''; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer.<ref>{{cite web | first=Maya | last=Gallus | date=6 June 2020 | url=https://povmagazine.com/agnes-varda-emotion-pictures/ | title=Agnes Varda: Emotion Pictures | work=POV Magazine}}</ref>

Varda's work employed [[location shooting]] in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier and more common to film indoors, with constructed sets and painted backdrops of landscapes, rather than outdoors, on location. Her use of non-professional actors was also unconventional for 1950s French cinema. Varda's feature film debut was ''[[La Pointe Courte]]'' (1955), followed by ''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]'' (1962), one of her most notable narrative films, ''[[Vagabond (1985 film)|Vagabond]]'' (1985), and ''[[Kung Fu Master (film)|Kung Fu Master]]'' (1988). Varda was also known for her work as a documentarian with such works as ''[[Black Panthers (film)|Black Panthers]]'' (1968), ''[[The Gleaners and I]]'' (2000), ''[[The Beaches of Agnès]]'' (2008), ''[[Faces Places (film)|Faces Places]]'' (2017), and her final film, ''[[Varda by Agnès]]'' (2019).

Director [[Martin Scorsese]] described Varda as "one of the Gods of Cinema".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/telluride-martin-scorsese-calls-agnes-varda-one-gods-at-fest-tribute-1235935|title= Telluride Martin Scorsese Calls Agnes Varda one of the Gods|website= The Hollywood Reporter|date= 31 August 2019|access-date= 26 November 2020}}|</ref> Among several other accolades, Varda received an [[Palme d'Or#Honorary Palme d'Or|Honorary Palme d'Or]] at the 2015 [[Cannes Film Festival]], becoming the first female director to win the award, a [[Golden Lion]] for ''Vagabond'' at the 1985 [[Venice Film Festival]], an [[Academy Honorary Award]], and a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] for ''Faces Places'', becoming the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar. In 2017, she became the first female director to win an honorary Oscar.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41185923| title=Meet the first female director to get an honorary Oscar|website=[[BBC]]|date=7 September 2017|access-date=17 November 2020}}</ref>

==Early life and education ==
Varda was born Arlette Varda on 30 May 1928 in [[Ixelles]], Brussels, Belgium, to Christiane (née Pasquet) and Eugène Jean Varda, an engineer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/29/Agnes-Varda.html|title=Agnes Varda Biography (1928-)|publisher=Filmreference.com|date=30 May 1928|access-date=10 September 2017}}</ref> Her mother was from [[Sète]], France, and her father was a member of a family of Greek refugees from [[Asia Minor]] in the [[Ottoman Empire]]. She was the third of five children. Varda legally changed her first name to Agnès at age 18.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Agnès Varda: 'I am still alive, I am still curious. I am not a piece of rotting flesh' | work =The Guardian | date =21 September 2018 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/21/agnes-varda-i-am-still-alive-i-am-still-curious-i-am-not-a-piece-of-rotting-flesh |access-date=2023-03-30 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=John |date=2019-03-29 |title=Agnès Varda Is Dead at 90; Influential French New Wave Filmmaker |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/obituaries/agnes-varda-dead.html |access-date=2023-03-30 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 

She left Belgium with her family in 1940 for Sète, where she spent her teenage years and during [[World War II]], she lived there on a boat with her family.<ref name=":1" /> Here started her life-long friendship with the sculptor [[Valentine Schlegel]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Valentine Schlegel par Agnès Varda - Exposition présentée par Rosalie Varda |url=https://www.nathalieobadia.com/video/9-valentine-schlegel-par-agnes-varda-exposition-presentee-par-rosalie-varda/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Galerie Nathalie Obadia |language=en}}</ref>

Varda studied art history at the [[École du Louvre]] and photography at the {{lang|fr|[[École des Beaux-Arts]]|italic=no}}, before working as a photographer at the [[Théâtre National Populaire]] in Paris.<ref name=":1" /> Varda attended the [[Lycée et collège Victor-Duruy]], and received a bachelor's degree in literature and psychology from the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]].<ref name="encyclopedia_com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/film-and-television-biographies/agnes-varda|title=Agnes Varda facts, information, pictures  |website=Encyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> She called her relocation to Paris "truly excruciating", saying it gave her "a frightful memory of my arrival in this grey, inhumane, sad city." She did not get along with her fellow students and called classes at the Sorbonne "stupid, antiquated, abstract, [and] scandalously unsuited for the lofty needs one had at that age."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8aEYAAAAIAAJ|title=World Film Directors – Volume 2: 1945 – 1985|last=Wakeman|first=John|date=1987|publisher=Hw Wilson Company|isbn=9780824207632| pages=1142|language=en}}</ref>

==Photography career==
Varda intended to become a museum curator, and studied art history at the [[École du Louvre]],<ref name="encyclopedia_com" /> but decided to study photography at the [[École Nationale Supérieure Louis-Lumière|Vaugirard School of Photography]] instead.<ref name=":0" /> She began her career as a still photographer before becoming one of the major voices of the [[Left Bank Cinema]] and the [[French New Wave]]. She maintained a fluid interrelationship between photographic and cinematic forms: "I take photographs or I make films. Or I put films in the photos, or photos in the films."<ref name="Darke">Darke, Chris. "Agnes Varda." ''Sight & Sound'', vol. 25, no. 4, April 2015, pp. 46–50. ''Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text'', EBSCO''host.''</ref><ref>A particular photo taken by Varda in Portugal in the 1950s inspired the book [https://www.wook.pt/livro/a-tale-of-two-cities-steve-harrison/23224417 A Tale of Two Cities] (and a homonymous [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8316046/ documentary]) by historian Steve Harrison (2017).</ref>

Varda discussed her beginnings with the medium of still photography: "I started earning a living from photography straight away, taking trivial photographs of families and weddings to make money. But I immediately wanted to make what I called 'compositions.' And it was with these that I had the impression I was doing something where I was asking questions with composition, form and meaning."<ref name="Darke" /> In 1951, her friend [[Jean Vilar]] opened the [[Théâtre National Populaire]] and hired Varda as its official photographer. Before accepting her position there, she worked as a stage photographer for the Theatre Festival of Avignon.<ref name="encyclopedia_com" /> She worked at the Théâtre National Populaire for ten years from 1951 to 1961, during which time her reputation grew and she eventually obtained photo-journalist jobs throughout Europe.<ref name=":0" />

Varda's still photography sometimes inspired her subsequent motion pictures.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art|last=DeRoo|first=Rebecca|publisher=University of California Press|year=2018|isbn=9780520279407|location=Oakland|pages=43–45, 88, 108–110}}</ref> She recounted: "When I made my first film, ''[[La Pointe Courte]]''{{--}}without experience, without having been an assistant before, without having gone to film school{{--}}I took photographs of everything I wanted to film, photographs that are almost models for the shots. And I started making films with the sole experience of photography, that's to say, where to place the camera, at what distance, with which lens and what lights?"

She later recalled another example:<blockquote>I made a film in 1982 called ''[[Ulysse (film)|Ulysse]]'', which is based on another photograph I took in 1954, one I'd made with the same bellows camera, and I started ''Ulysse'' with the words, 'I used to see the image upside down.' There's an image of a goat on the ground, like a fallen constellation, and that was the origin of the photograph. With those cameras, you'd frame the image upside down, so I saw [[Brassaï]] through the camera with his head at the bottom of the image.<ref name="Darke" /></blockquote>

In 2010, Varda joined the gallery [[Nathalie Obadia]].<ref>''{{ill|Point de Vue (magazine)|fr|Point de vue (magazine)|lt=Point de Vue}}'', 16 June 2016, « Agnès Varda, la joconde de la rue Daguerre »</ref>

==Filmmaking career==
Varda's filmmaking career predates the French New Wave, but contains many elements specific to that movement.<ref name="Smith1998" />{{rp|3}} While working as a photographer, Varda became interested in making a film, although she stated that she knew little about the medium and had only seen around 20 films by the age of 25. She later said that she wrote her first screenplay "just the way a person writes his first book. When I'd finished writing it, I thought to myself: 'I'd like to shoot that script,' and so some friends and I formed a cooperative to make it." She found the filmmaking process difficult because it did not allow the same freedom as writing a novel; she said her approach was instinctive and feminine. In an interview with ''[[The Believer (magazine)|The Believer]]'', Varda said that she wanted to make films that related to her time (in reference to ''La Pointe Courte''), rather than focusing on traditions or classical standards.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Heti|first1=Sheila|author-link=Sheila Heti|title=Agnès Varda [Filmmaker]|url=http://www.believermag.com/issues/200910/?read=interview_varda|access-date=29 October 2014}}</ref>

===''La Pointe Courte'' (1954)===
{{Main|La Pointe Courte}}
Varda liked photography but was interested in moving into film. After spending a few days filming the small French fishing town of Sète, in the old fisherman's quarter of La Pointe Courte, for a terminally ill friend who could no longer visit on his own, Varda decided to shoot a feature film of her own, leaving the artistic direction in the hands of her friend [[Valentine Schlegel]].<ref name=":2" /> Thus, in 1954, Varda's first film, ''La Pointe Courte'', about an unhappy couple working through their relationship in a small fishing town, was released. The film is a stylistic precursor to the French New Wave.<ref name="Neupert">Neupert, Richard. ''A History of the French New Wave Cinema'', University of Wisconsin Press, 2007. Pg. 57.</ref> At the time, Varda was influenced by the philosophy of [[Gaston Bachelard]], under whom she had once studied at the Sorbonne. "She was particularly interested in his theory of '{{lang|fr|l'imagination des matières}},' in which certain personality traits were found to correspond to concrete elements in a kind of [[psychoanalysis]] of the material world."<ref> Fitterman-Lewis, p. 221</ref> This idea finds expression in ''La Pointe Courte'' as the characters' personality traits clash, shown through the opposition of objects such as wood and steel. To further her interest in character abstraction, Varda used two professional actors, [[Silvia Monfort]] and [[Philippe Noiret]], combined with the residents of La Pointe Courte, to provide a realistic element that lends itself to a documentary aesthetic inspired by neorealism. Varda continued to use this combination of fictional and documentary elements in her films.<ref name="Fitterman">Fitterman-Lewis, Sandy, ''To Desire Differently'', Columbia University Press, 1996, pp. 215–245.</ref>

The film was edited by Varda's friend and fellow "Left Bank" filmmaker [[Alain Resnais]], who was reluctant to work on it because it was "so nearly the film he wanted to make himself"; Resnais's 1959 film ''[[Hiroshima mon amour]]'' would later feature a similar structure. Resnais and Varda remained lifelong friends, though Resnais said they had nothing in common "apart from cats".<ref name=":0" /> The film was immediately praised by ''[[Cahiers du Cinéma]]'': [[André Bazin]] said, "There is a total freedom to the style, which produces the impression, so rare in the cinema, that we are in the presence of a work that obeys only the dreams and desires of its auteur with no other external obligations."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newwavefilm.com/french-new-wave-encyclopedia/la-pointe-courte.shtml|title=La Pointe Courte - Agnes Varda|website=Newwavefilm.com|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> [[François Truffaut]] called it "an experimental work, ambitious, honest and intelligent."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wga.org/news-events/news/press/2019/french-filmmaker-agnes-varda-to-receive-2019-jean-renoir-award|title=French Filmmaker Agnès Varda to Receive WGAW's 2019 Jean Renoir Award for International Screenwriting Achievement|website=Wga.org|language=en|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> Varda said that the film "hit like a cannonball because I was a young woman, since before that, in order to become a director you had to spend years as an assistant."{{Quote without source|date=April 2019}} But the film was a financial failure, and Varda made only short films for the next seven years.<ref name=":0" />

Varda is considered the grandmother and mother of the French New Wave. ''La Pointe Courte'' is unofficially but widely considered the first film of the movement.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.criterion.com/explore/178-agnes-varda|title=Agnès Varda|work=The Criterion Collection|access-date=10 April 2018}}</ref> It was the first of many she made that focus on issues ordinary people face. Late in her life, she said that she was not interested in accounts of people in power but "much more interested in the rebels, the people who fight for their own life".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2017/film/awards/agnes-varda-faces-places-governors-awards-2017-1202606838/|title=Agnès Varda on Radical Filmmaking: 'I Never Thought I Didn't Have the Right'|last=Rizzo|first=Carita|date=10 November 2017|work=Variety|access-date=10 April 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>


===''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (1961)===
{{Main|Cléo from 5 to 7}}
[[File:Agnès Varda - Les femmes s'emparent du cinéma.jpg|thumb|Commemorative poster for Varda's ''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]'' (1961)]]
After ''La Pointe Courte'', Varda made several documentary short films; two were commissioned by the French tourist office. These include one of Varda's favorites of her own works, ''L'opéra-mouffe'', a film about the [[Rue Mouffetard]] street market which won an award at the 1958 Brussels Experimental Film Festival.<ref name=":0" />

''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]'' follows a pop singer through two extraordinary hours in which she awaits the results of a recent biopsy. The film is superficially about a woman coming to terms with her mortality, a common trope for Varda.<ref name="Wilson1999">{{cite book|first=Wilson|last=Emma|author-link=Emma Wilson|chapter=3. Mourning Films I.|title=French Cinema since 1950: Personal Histories.|location=[[Lanham, MD]]|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|year=1999|pages=42–46|isbn=0715628496}}</ref> On a deeper level, ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' confronts the traditionally objectified woman by giving Cléo her own vision. She cannot be constructed through the gaze of others, which is often represented through a motif of reflections and Cléo's ability to strip her body of "to-be-looked-at" attributes (such as clothing or wigs). Stylistically, ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' mixes documentary and fiction, as had ''La Pointe Courte''. The film represents [[Diegesis|diegetic]] action said to occur between 5 and 7 p.m., although its run-time is 89 minutes.<ref name="Fitterman" />

=== ''Daguerréotypes'' (1976) ===
''[[Daguerréotypes]]'' is a 1976 documentary film directed by Agnès Varda, capturing the lives of shopkeepers and residents along Rue Daguerre, a small street in Paris where Varda lived. The film takes its title from both the name of the street and the term "[[daguerreotype]]," reflecting Varda’s fascination with preserving fleeting moments in time. Through a series of intimate vignettes, the documentary explores the routines, stories, and relationships of local bakers, butchers, tailors, and other small business owners. With its static camera work and observational approach, the film offers a heartfelt and authentic portrayal of a community rooted in tradition amidst the evolving urban landscape. Widely regarded as a time capsule of 1970s Paris, Daguerréotypes exemplifies Varda’s ability to find poetry in everyday life and elevate the mundane into something profoundly human.

=== Ciné-Tamaris (1977) ===
In 1977, Varda founded her own production company, Ciné-Tamaris, in order to have more control over shooting and editing.<ref name="senses">{{cite web|last1=Carter|first1=Helen|title=Agnes Varda|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/great-directors/varda/|website=Senses of Cinema|date=21 May 2002 |access-date=29 October 2014}}</ref> In 2013, the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] held Varda's first American exhibition, ''Agnès Varda in Californialand''. It featured a sculptural installation, several photographs, and short films, and was inspired by time she spent in Los Angeles in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Agnès Varda in Californialand|url=http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/agn%C3%A8s-varda-californialand|website=Lacma.org|access-date=24 October 2014}}</ref>

=== ''One Sings, the Other Doesn't'' (1977) === 
Produced by Cine-Tamaris, ''L'une chante, l'autre pas''—otherwise known as ''[[One Sings, the Other Doesn't]]''—focuses on two women over the span of 14 years during the Women's Movement of 1970s France. 22-year-old Suzanne is pregnant with a third child she can not afford. 17-year-old singer Pomme pays for Suzanne to have an abortion. Pomme becomes a pop singer and feminist, forming a group dedicated to women's liberation, while Suzanne raises her children and writes about life on the farm. The story follows the two as they live their separate lives but keep in touch throughout the years.

===''Vagabond'' (1985)===
{{Main|Vagabond (1985 film)}}
In 1985, Varda made ''[[Vagabond (1985 film)|Sans toit ni loi]]'' ("without roof nor law"; known in most English-speaking countries as ''Vagabond''), a drama about the death of a young female drifter named Mona. The death is investigated by an unseen and unheard interviewer who focuses on the people who last saw her. ''Vagabond'' is told through nonlinear techniques, with the film divided into 47 episodes, and each episode about Mona told from a different person's perspective. ''Vagabond'' is considered one of Varda's greater feminist works because of how the film deals with the de-fetishization of the female body from the male perspective.<ref name="Hayward">Hayward, Susan. "Beyond the Gaze and Into Femme-Filmécriture." ''French Film: Texts and Contexts.'' By Susan Hayward and Ginette Vincendeau. London: Routledge, 2000. 269–80. Print. 8-June-2012</ref>

===''Kung-Fu Master!'' (1988)===
Kung-Fu Master! is a 1988 French drama film directed by Agnès Varda. The narrative centers on Mary-Jane, a woman in her forties, who becomes romantically involved with Julien, a 14-year-old boy and classmate of her daughter, Lucy. The film delves into themes of unconventional love, societal taboos, and the loneliness of adulthood, offering a nuanced portrayal of complex human emotions. [[Jane Birkin]] stars as Mary-Jane, with [[Mathieu Demy]], Varda's son, portraying Julien, and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Lucy, adding depth to the familial dynamics explored in the story. The film's title references Julien's fascination with the arcade game "Kung-Fu Master," which serves as a recurring motif, symbolizing his youthful escapism and the generational gap between the two protagonists.

'''Social Commentary:'''

''Exploration of Isolation and Connection'': Varda uses the controversial relationship between Mary-Jane and Julien to comment on the pervasive loneliness in modern society. Mary-Jane's emotional vulnerability highlights how adults often struggle to find meaningful connections, leading them to seek companionship in unexpected and socially fraught circumstances. The film challenges viewers to confront their own biases about love, age, and human needs, pushing the boundaries of societal norms.

''Critique of Gender Expectations'': By portraying Mary-Jane’s relationship with a younger male in a sympathetic yet critical light, Varda draws attention to the double standards in how society judges women’s romantic choices. While male characters in similar scenarios are often romanticized, Kung-Fu Master! provokes a more nuanced discussion about power dynamics, agency, and the societal pressures placed on women to adhere to conventional roles.

Kung-Fu Master! was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 38th [[Berlin International Film Festival]], highlighting its critical recognition. Although polarizing due to its subject matter, the film remains a bold exploration of taboo relationships and human vulnerability, cementing Agnès Varda’s reputation as a fearless storyteller who refuses to shy away from difficult questions.

===''Jacquot de Nantes'' (1991)===
{{Main|Jacquot de Nantes}}
In 1991, shortly after her husband [[Jacques Demy]]'s death, Varda created the film ''[[Jacquot de Nantes]]'', which is about his life and death. The film is structured at first as being a recreation of his early life, being obsessed with the various crafts used for filmmaking like animation and set design. But then Varda provides elements of documentary by inserting clips of Demy's films as well as footage of him dying. The film continues with Varda's common theme of accepting death, but at its heart it is considered to be Varda's tribute to her late husband and their work.<ref name="Wilson1999" />

===''The Gleaners and I'' (2000)===
[[File:Agnès Varda (Guadalajara) 18 cropped.jpg|thumb|Varda at the [[Guadalajara International Film Festival]] in 2010]]
''[[The Gleaners and I|Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse]]'' (''The Gleaners and I''), a documentary, focuses on Varda's interactions with [[Gleaning|gleaners]] (harvesters) who live in the French countryside, and also includes subjects who create art through recycled material, as well as an interview with psychoanalyst [[Jean Laplanche]]. The film is notable for its fragmented and free-form nature along with it being the first time Varda used digital cameras. This style of filmmaking is often interpreted as a statement that great things like art can still be created through scraps, yet modern economies encourage people to only use the finest product.<ref name="Cruickshank">Cruickshank, Ruth "The Work of Art in the Age of Global Consumption: Varda's Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse." ''L'esprit Créateur'' 47.3, (2007): pg. 119–132 Project MUSE. Web. 8-June-2012</ref>

===''Faces Places'' (2017)===
In 2017, Varda co-directed ''[[Faces Places (film)|Faces Places]]'' with the artist [[JR (artist)|JR]]. The film was screened out of competition at the [[2017 Cannes Film Festival]]<ref name="Cannes2017">{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/actualites/articles/the-2017-official-selection|title=The 2017 Official Selection|work=Cannes|date=13 April 2017|access-date=13 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="IW">{{cite web|url=http://www.indiewire.com/2017/04/cannes-2017-lineup-list-film-festival-schedule-1201804813/|title=2017 Cannes Film Festival Announces Lineup: Todd Haynes, Sofia Coppola, 'Twin Peaks' and More|work=IndieWire|date=13 April 2017|access-date=13 April 2017}}</ref> where it won the [[L'Œil d'or]] award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-agnes-vardas-faces-places-takes-golden-eye-documentary-prize-1008246|title=Cannes: Agnes Varda's 'Faces Places' Takes Golden Eye Documentary Prize|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|publisher=Prometheus Global Media, LLC|date=27 May 2017|access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref> The film follows Varda and JR traveling around rural France, creating portraits of the people they come across. Varda was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] for this film, making her the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Rachel|last=Withers|url=https://slate.com/culture/2018/01/a-round-up-of-this-years-history-making-firsts.html|title=The 2018 Oscar nominees include these historic firsts|journal=Slate |date=23 January 2018 |publisher=Slate.com|access-date=24 January 2018}}</ref> Although the nomination was her first, Varda did not regard it as important, stating: "There is nothing to be proud of, but happy. Happy because we make films to love. We make films so that you love the film."<ref name="RifeAV">{{Cite news|url=https://www.avclub.com/agnes-varda-says-her-oscar-nomination-is-nice-but-not-1822783949|title=Agnès Varda says her Oscar nomination is nice, but 'nothing to be proud of'|last=Rife|first=Katie|work=The A.V. Club|access-date=10 April 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Sandy |title=Agnes Varda is happy, but not proud, of her Oscar nomination |url=https://www.apnews.com/05d71453839c41728c03d111f6c9ee4d |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=29 March 2019 |date=6 February 2018}}</ref> The film ends with Varda and JR knocking on [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s front door in Rolle for an interview. Godard agreed to the meeting but "stands them up".<ref name=kohn>{{cite news |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/agnes-varda-daughter-rosalie-interview-1202171080/ |last=Kohn |first=Eric |title=Agnès Varda's Daughter on Her Mother's Death and the Future of Her Archive |publisher=Indiewire |date=5 September 2019 |access-date=30 October 2022}}</ref>

=== ''Varda by Agnes'' (2019)=== 
The last film Varda directed, ''Varda by Agnes'' features Varda watching and discussing her films and work. She recounts her 60-year artistic journey through photography and filmmaking. She expresses the importance of three key words: inspiration, creation, and sharing. The film shows Varda sitting and reflecting on the things she loves, such as her husband, cats, colors, beaches, and heart-shaped potatoes.

==Style and influences==
Many of Varda's films use protagonists that are marginalized or rejected members of society, and are documentary in nature. She made a short film on [[the Black Panthers]] after seeing that their leader, [[Huey Newton]], was arrested for killing a police officer. The film focuses on demonstrations in support of Newton and the "[[Free Huey]]" campaign.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Letort|first=Delphine|date=15 December 2014|title=Agnès Varda: filming the Black Panthers's Struggle|journal=L'Ordinaire des Amériques|volume=217 |language=en|issue=217|doi=10.4000/orda.1646|issn=0997-0584|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Like many other French New Wave directors, Varda was likely influenced by [[auteur theory]], creating her own signature style by using the camera "as a pen". Varda called her method of filmmaking "{{lang|fr|cinécriture}}" ("cinematic writing" or "writing on film").<ref name="Smith1998">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iddRAQAAIAAJ|title=Agnès Varda|last=Smith|first=Alison|date=1998|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=9780719050619|location=Manchester|oclc=39443910}}</ref>{{rp|12}} Rather than separating the fundamental roles that contribute to a film (such as cinematographer, screenwriter, and director), she believed that all roles should work together simultaneously to create a more cohesive film, and all elements of the film should contribute to its message. She claimed to make most of her discoveries while editing, seeking the opportunity to find images or dialogue that create a motif.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gorbman|first1=Claudia|title=Places and Play in Agnès Varda's Cinécriture|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/beachesofagnes/gorbman.php|website=Pbs.org|access-date=24 October 2014|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150933/http://www.pbs.org/pov/beachesofagnes/gorbman.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Because of her photographic background, still images are often significant in her films. They may serve symbolic or narrative purposes, and each element of them is important. There is sometimes conflict between still and moving images in her films, and she often mixed still images (snapshots) with moving images.<ref name="Smith1998" />{{rp|13}} Varda paid very close attention to detail and was highly conscious of the implications of each cinematic choice she made. Elements of the film are rarely just functional, each element has its own implications, both on its own and that it lends to the entire film's message.<ref name="Smith1998" />{{rp|15}}

Many of her influences were artistic or literary, including [[Surrealism]], [[William Faulkner]], [[Franz Kafka]], and [[Nathalie Sarraute]].<ref name="Smith1998" />{{Rp|6, 12, 106}}

=== Involvement in the French New Wave ===
[[File:Agnès Varda (Berlinale 2019) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Varda at the [[2019 Berlin Film Festival|Berlin Film Festival]] in February 2019]]
Because of her literary influences, and because her work predates the French New Wave, Varda's films belong more precisely to the Left Bank (''Rive Gauche'') cinema movement, along with those of Resnais, [[Chris Marker]], [[Marguerite Duras]], [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]], [[Jean Cayrol]] and [[Henri Colpi]]. Categorically, the Left Bank side of the New Wave movement embraced a more experimental style than the ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' group, but this distinction is ironic considering that the New Wave itself was considered experimental in its treatment of traditional methodologies and subjects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Darke|first=Chris|date=April 2015|title=Agnes Varda|url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=d97b7c14-ce86-4526-a99a-2f5adcc5b7d7@sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==#AN=101798961&db=a9h|journal=Sight & Sound|volume=25|issue=4|pages=46–50|via=EBSCO}}{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Left Bank Cinema was strongly tied to the ''nouveau roman'' movement in literature. The members of the group had in common a background in documentary filmmaking, left-wing politics, and a heightened interest in experimentation and the treatment of film as art. Varda and other Left Bank filmmakers crafted a mode of filmmaking that blends one of film's most socially motivated approaches, documentary, with one of its most formally experimental approaches, the avant-garde. Its members often collaborated with each other. According to scholar Delphine Bénézet, Varda resisted the "norms of representation and diktats of production."<ref name="Bénézet">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GcvbAgAAQBAJ|title=The Cinema of Agnès Varda: Resistance and Eclecticism|last=Benezet|first=Delphine|date=20 May 2014|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231850612|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|6}}

===As a feminist filmmaker===
Varda's work is often considered feminist because of her use of female protagonists and her creation of a female cinematic voice.<ref name="senses" /> She said, "I'm not at all a theoretician of feminism. I did all that—my photos, my craft, my film, my life—on my terms, my own terms, and not to do it like a man."<ref name=":0" />{{rp|1142–1148}} Although not actively involved in any strict agendas of the feminist movement, Varda often focused on women's issues thematically and never tried to change her craft to make it more conventional or masculine.<ref name="Female Inhibition and Empowerment in 1960s Paris">{{cite web |last1=Katz |first1=Ruby |title=Female Inhibition and Empowerment in 1960s Paris |url=http://facets.org/blog/exclusive/lists/vault/female-inhibition-and-empowerment/ |website=Facets |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826162145/http://facets.org/blog/exclusive/lists/vault/female-inhibition-and-empowerment/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Female Directors, Female Gaze: The Search for Female Subjectivity in Film">{{cite web |last1=Hossain |first1=Rubaiyat |title=Female Directors, Female Gaze: The Search for Female Subjectivity in Film |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2011/May/female.htm |website=Forum |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-date=8 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408030123/http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2011/May/female.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> She was also Professor of Film at [[The European Graduate School]].

Bénézet has argued for Varda's importance as "a woman of singularity" ({{lang|fr|au feminin singulier}}), and of the utmost importance in film history. Varda embraced her femininity with distinct boldness.<ref name="Bénézet"/>

==Personal life and death==
[[File:Deneuve-Demy-Varda-Venise-1966 (2).jpg|thumb|[[Catherine Deneuve]], [[Jacques Demy]] and Varda (''left-to-right'') in Venice, 1966]]
In 1958, while at a short film festival in [[Tours]], Varda met her future husband, [[Jacques Demy]], also a French director.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Travers |first=James |date=2012-01-01 |title=Biography and filmography of Jacques Demy |url=http://www.frenchfilms.org/biography/jacques-demy.html |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=frenchfilms.org |language=en}}</ref> They moved in together in 1959. She was married to Demy from 1962 until his death in 1990. Varda had two children: a daughter, [[Rosalie Varda]] (born 1958), from a previous union with actor [[Antoine Bourseiller]] (who starred in ''Cléo from 5 to 7''), and a son, [[Mathieu Demy]] (born 1972), with Demy.<ref name="senses"/> Demy legally adopted Rosalie Varda.<ref name="Wilson1999" /> Varda worked on the Oscar-nominated documentary ''Faces Places'' with her daughter.<ref name="RifeAV" />

In 1971, Varda was one of the 343 women who signed the [[Manifesto of the 343]] admitting they had had an abortion despite it being illegal in France at the time and asking that abortion be made legal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://manifesto343.wordpress.com/ |title=manifesto343 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611003603/https://manifesto343.wordpress.com/ |archive-date=11 June 2016 |access-date=29 June 2016 |date=10 June 2016 |work=manifesto343.wordpress.com |url-status = dead }}</ref> That same year, she was one of only four people to attend the funeral of her friend [[Jim Morrison]] at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Myers |first=Owen |date=2019-03-29 |title=Agnès Varda's last interview: 'I fought for radical cinema all my life' |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/mar/29/agnes-varda-last-interview-i-fought-for-radical-cinema-all-my-life |access-date=2023-06-03 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> 

Varda was the cousin of the painter [[Jean Varda]]. In 1967, while living in [[California]], Varda met her father's cousin for the first time. He is the subject of her short documentary ''Uncle Yanco''. Jean Varda called himself "Yanco" and was affectionately called "uncle" by Varda due to their age difference.<ref name="Uncle Yanco (1967)">{{cite web |title=Uncle Yanco (1967) |url=https://letterboxd.com/film/uncle-yanco/ |work=[[Letterboxd]] |access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="Uncle Yanco">{{cite web |title=Uncle Yanco |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/28626-uncle-yanco |work=[[Criterion.com]] |access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref>

Varda died from [[cancer]] on 29 March 2019 in [[Paris]], at the age of 90.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chu |first1=Henry |last2=Keslassy |first2=Elsa |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/agnes-varda-dead-dies-director-french-new-wave-1203175854/ |title=Agnès Varda, Leading Light of French New Wave, Dies at 90 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=29 March 2019 |access-date=29 March 2019 |publisher=[[Penske Business Media, LLC.]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47745841 |title=Agnes Varda: Tributes to 'irreplaceable' film director |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=29 March 2019 |access-date=29 March 2019 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> She was buried at [[Montparnasse Cemetery]] on 2 April.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2019/03/30/les-obseques-d-agnes-varda-auront-lieu-mardi-a-paris_5443572_3382.html |newspaper=[[Le Monde]] |date=30 March 2019 |access-date=2 April 2019 |language=fr |author-link=Agence France-Presse |author=AFP |title=Les obsèques d'Agnès Varda auront lieu mardi à Paris}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.eu/arts-culture-and-entertainment-photos/people-photos/agnes-varda-funeral-in-paris-photos-55099062|title=Agnes Varda funeral in Paris photo preview 55099062|publisher=[[European Pressphoto Agency]]|date=2 April 2019}}</ref> Among those who attended her funeral were [[Catherine Deneuve]], [[Julie Gayet]], [[Jean-Pierre Léaud]], [[Jane Birkin]], and [[Sandrine Bonnaire]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.eu/arts-culture-and-entertainment-photos/people-photos/agnes-varda-funeral-in-paris-photos-55099058|title=Agnes Varda funeral in Paris photo preview 55099058|publisher=European Pressphoto Agency|date=2 April 2019}}{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Mourners left flowers and potatoes outside her house on rue Daguerre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/agnes-varda-a-pioneering-artist-who-saw-the-extraordinary-in-the-ordinary-115437|title=Agnès Varda, a pioneering artist who saw the extraordinary in the ordinary|first=Margot|last=Irvine|website=The Conversation|date=16 April 2019 }}</ref>

Her death drew a passionate response from the filmmaking community with [[Martin Scorsese]] releasing a statement writing, "I seriously doubt that Agnès Varda ever followed in anyone else's footsteps, in any corner of her life or her art. Every single one of her remarkable handmade pictures, so beautifully balanced between documentary and fiction, is like no one else's—every image, every cut … What a body of work she left behind: movies big and small, playful and tough, generous and solitary, lyrical and unflinching … and alive."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/agnes-varda-remembered-as-influential-director-who-lived-fully-for-every-moment/|title= Agnes Varda Remembered As Influential Director Who 'Lived Fully for Every Moment'|website= [[The Wrap]]|date= 29 March 2019|access-date= 26 November 2020}}</ref> [[Barry Jenkins]] tweeted, "Work and life were undeniably fused for this legend. She lived {{em|fully}} for every moment of those 90 damn years". [[Ava DuVernay]] wrote about her relationship with Varda, ending her statement with "Merci, Agnes. For your films. For your passion. For your light. It shines on." Other filmmakers and artists who paid tribute to Varda include [[Guillermo del Toro]], the [[Safdie brothers]], [[Edgar Wright]], [[JR (artist)|JR]] and [[Madonna]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/03/agnes-varda-reaction-martin-scorsese-ava-duvernay-madonna-faces-places-1202585005/|title= Agnès Varda Tributes: Martin Scorsese, Ava DuVernay, Cannes, Madonna & More React To Passing Of Cinema 'Legend'|website= Deadline Hollywood|date= 29 March 2019|access-date= 26 November 2020}}</ref> [[Jean-Luc Godard]] sent Varda's daughter Rosalie (who produced ''Faces Places'') "a kind of photo collage of Agnès&nbsp;... It was something special. It's a secret. But he sent me something nice. I think he cared for Agnès a lot. He saw all her films", she said.<ref name=kohn/>

==Awards and honors==
[[File:Cannes handprints.jpg|thumb|Varda's handprints at Cannes]]
Varda has achieved the rare feat of winning the most important accolades: a Hollywood Oscar, a Berlin Bear, a Venice Lion, a honorary Palme from Cannes and several Césars. She has been a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1983.<ref name="Juries 2005 : All the Juries">{{cite web |title=Juries 2005 : All the Juries |url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/2005/allJury.html |website=Festival de Cannes |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092218/http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/2005/allJury.html |archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Giurie anni ’80">{{cite web |title=Giurie anni '80 |url=http://www.carnivalofvenice.com/?page_id=122&lang=en+Juries+for+the+1980s |website=Carnival of Venice |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830025432/http://www.carnivalofvenice.com/?page_id=122 |archive-date=30 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Below is an incomplete list focussing on the major prizes.

* Varda's first feature length film ''La Pointe Courte'' immediately won her the Prix de l'Âge d'Or in Brussels, Belgium (where she had lived between 1928 and 1940 before her family fled to Sète, where the film is set).

* Her second film ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' received much acclaim and nominations, and won two minor awards.

* Her third feature film ''Le Bonheur'' (1965) won her a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

* In 1984 she received her first of three [[César Awards]] for her movie short ''Ulysse''.

* For the 1985 documentary-style feature film ''Vagabond (Sans Toit Ni Loi)'', she received the [[Golden Lion]] of the [[42nd Venice International Film Festival]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.labiennale.org/en/history-venice-film-festival|title=History of the Venice Film Festival|date=7 December 2017|website=La Biennale di Venezia|language=en|access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref>

* On 24 February 2001 she received an [[Honorary César]] for her film work so far. (Charlotte Rampling also received one the same night.)

* In 2002, she was the recipient of the French Academy prize, the ''[[René Clair Award]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/agnes-varda-obituary|title=Agnès Varda, Acclaimed French Filmmaker and 'Grandmother of the New Wave,' Is Dead at Age 90|date=29 March 2019|website=Vogue|language=en|access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref>

* On 4 March 2007, she was appointed a Grand Officer of the [[National Order of Merit (France)|National Order of Merit of France]].<ref name="legiondhonneur.fr">{{cite web |url=http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/conferen/donnedieu/avarda.html |trans-title=Elevation of Agnès Varda to the honor of Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125120721/http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/conferen/donnedieu/avarda.html |archive-date=25 January 2018 |title=Elévation d'Agnès Varda à la dignité de Grand officier dans l'ordre national du mérite |url-status = live|language=fr |publisher=[[Ministry of Culture (France)]]}}</ref>

* In February 2009, ''[[The Beaches of Agnès]]'' won the [[César Award for Best Documentary Film|Best Documentary Film]] award at the [[34th César Awards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lescesarducinema.com/#palmares |title=Accueil - Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma |publisher=Lescesarducinema.com |access-date=10 September 2017}}</ref>

* On 12 April 2009, she was made Commandeur de la [[Légion d'honneur]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2009/04/12/legion-d-honneur-plusieurs-proches-de-sarkozy-promus_1179810_823448.html |title=Légion d'honneur : Vincent Bolloré et Max Gallo promus |language=fr |publisher=[[Lemonde.fr]] |date=12 April 2009 |trans-title=Legion of Honor: Vincent Bolloré and Max Gallo promoted}}</ref>

* In May 2010, Varda received the Directors' Fortnight's 8th Carosse d'Or award for lifetime achievement at the [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/spotlight-on-sidebars-1118017346/ |url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125114931/http://variety.com/2010/film/markets-festivals/spotlight-on-sidebars-1118017346/ |title=Spotlight on sidebars |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |first1=Jordan |last1=Mintzer |first2=Elsa |last2=Keslassy |date=7 April 2010 |access-date=25 January 2018 |archive-date=25 January 2018}}</ref>

* On 22 September 2010, Varda received an honorary degree from [[University of Liège]], Belgium.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uliege.be/cms/c_492494/fr/rentree-academique-a-l-universite-de-liege-22/09/2010|title=Rentrée académique à l'Université de Liège|date=22 September 2010|website=[[University of Liège]]|language=fr|access-date=30 March 2019|archive-date=17 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317042813/https://www.uliege.be/cms/c_492494/fr/rentree-academique-a-l-universite-de-liege-22/09/2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

* In 2012 the City of Brussels decides to rename the Ecole de Photographie de la Ville de Bruxelles after her; the official unveiling of ''L’Ecole de Photographie et de Techniques Visuelles Agnès Varda'' is on 2013-09-25.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ecoledephoto.be/lecole/|title=L'école de Photo Agnès Varda|publisher=ecoledephoto.be |access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>

* On 14 May 2013, Varda was promoted to Grand Cross of the [[Ordre national du Mérite]] of the French republic.<ref name="legiondhonneur.fr"/>

* On 22 May 2013, Varda received the 2013 FIAF Award for her work in the field of film preservation and restoration.<ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906004346/http://fiafnet.org/uk/news/21.html |url-status = dead|via=[[Wayback Machine]] |url=http://fiafnet.org/uk/news/21.html |title=2013 FIAF Award presented to French Filmaker {{sic|hide=y}} Agnès Varda during the International Cannes Film Festival |work=[[fiafnet.org]] |archive-date=6 September 2013 |date=27 May 2013 |access-date=25 January 2018}}</ref>

* On 10 August 2014, Varda received the Leopard of Honour award at the 67th [[Locarno Film Festival]].<ref name=www.cineuropa.org>{{cite web|last1=Llanos Martinez|first1=Hector|title=Agnès Varda • Director|url=http://www.cineuropa.org/it.aspx?t=interview&l=en&did=261466 |website=Cineuropa.org |date=11 August 2014 |access-date=26 September 2014}}</ref> She was the second female to receive the award after [[Kira Muratova]].<ref name="Leopard of Honour Award">{{cite web |last1=Del Don |first1=Georgia |title=The Leopard of Honour at the Locarno Film Festival will this year celebrate the great Agnès Varda|url=http://www.cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=259544|website=Cineuropa.org|date=4 July 2014 |access-date=26 September 2014}}</ref>

* On 13 December 2014, Varda received the honorary [[European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award|Lifetime Achievement Award]], presented by the [[European Film Academy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cineuropa.org/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=265408|title=EFA honours Agnès Varda |access-date=3 November 2014 |work=Cineuropa|date=30 October 2014 }}</ref>

* On 24 May 2015, Varda was the first woman to receive an honorary [[Palme d'Or]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A Palme d'honneur to Agnès Varda |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/article/61348.html |access-date=9 May 2015 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518093527/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/article/61348.html |archive-date=18 May 2015 |website=[[festival-cannes.com]]}}</ref>

* On 16 April 2017, Varda was promoted to {{lang|fr|Grand officier}} of the [[Legion of Honour]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2017/04/16/2557161-legion-honneur-francois-pinault-laurent-fabius-agnes-varda-distingues.html |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417211510/http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2017/04/16/2557161-legion-honneur-francois-pinault-laurent-fabius-agnes-varda-distingues.html |url-status = live|via=[[La Dépêche du Midi]] |archive-date=17 April 2017 |publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]] |title=Légion d'honneur: François Pinault, Laurent Fabius et Agnès Varda distingués |trans-title=Legion of Honor: François Pinault, Laurent Fabius and Agnès Varda honored}}</ref>

* Varda was included in [[Cinema Eye Honors|Cinema Eye]]'s 2017 list of "Unforgettables".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://realscreen.com/2017/10/19/ciff-17-cinema-eye-unveils-unforgettables/|title=CIFF '17: Cinema Eye unveils 'Unforgettables'|first=Daniele|last=Alcinii|date=19 October 2017|publisher=Realscreen|access-date=29 November 2017|url-status = live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029173755/http://realscreen.com/2017/10/19/ciff-17-cinema-eye-unveils-unforgettables/|archive-date=29 October 2017}}</ref>

* At the time of her death, Varda was the oldest person to be nominated for an [[Academy Honorary Award]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5564179/agnes-varda-obituary-jr/|title='She Was Always in the Present.' Artist JR on the Films and Friendship of Agnès Varda|magazine=Time|author=JR|author-link=JR (artist)|date=4 April 2019}}</ref> She received it on 11 November 2017 for her contributions to cinema, making her the first female director to receive such an award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/news/academy-honor-charles-burnett-owen-roizman-donald-sutherland-and-agnes-varda-oscars-2017 |title=The Academy to Honor Charles Burnett, Owen Roizman, Donald Sutherland and Agnès Varda With Oscars at 2017 Governors Awards |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |website=[[oscars.org]] |date=6 September 2017 |access-date=10 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.unifrance.org/news/15093/agnes-varda-the-first-female-director-to-receive-a-governors-award-in-hollywood |title=Agnès Varda, the first female director to receive a Governors Award in Hollywood - uniFrance Films |website=[[UniFrance|En.unifrance.org]] |date=14 November 2017|access-date=29 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/film-and-tv/14086 |title=Academy Honorary Award 2017: Le Bonheur is tainted by hypocrisy |work=[[Varsity (Cambridge)|Varsity]] |date=24 November 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017}}</ref> The prize was presented to her by [[Angelina Jolie]] at the [[Governors Awards|9th Annual Governors Awards]] ceremony. She was nominated two months later for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her documentary ''Faces Places'', becoming the oldest nominated person at the show (she was eight days older than fellow nominee [[James Ivory]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2018/01/23/french-director-agnes-varda-89-becomes-oldest-ever-oscar-nominee/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2018/01/23/french-director-agnes-varda-89-becomes-oldest-ever-oscar-nominee/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=French director Agnès Varda, 89, becomes oldest ever Oscar nominee|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=23 January 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

* In 2017 Varda also won [[L'Œil d'or]] (The Golden Eye, The Documentary Prize - Cannes) for ''Faces Places''.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

* In 2019 she received a second major award at the Berlin International Film Festival, viz. the ''Berlinale Kamera''.{{fact|date=March 2025}}
 
* In 2019, the [[BBC]] polled 368 film experts from 84 countries to name the 100 best films by women directors. Varda was the most-named director, with six different films on the list: ''[[The Beaches of Agnès]]'', ''[[One Sings, the Other Doesn't]]'', ''[[The Gleaners and I]]'', ''[[Le Bonheur (1965 film)|Le Bonheur]]'', ''[[Vagabond (1985 film)|Vagabond]]'', and the number-two entry on the list, ''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]''.<ref name="BBC 100 greatest">{{cite news |title=The 100 greatest films directed by women |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20191125-the-100-greatest-films-directed-by-women-poll |access-date=28 December 2019 |work=BBC |date=26 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="James BBC Varda">{{cite news |last1=James |first1=Caryn |title=Why Agnès Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7 deserves to be a classic |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20191125-greatest-films-directed-by-women-film-poll-agns-varda |access-date=28 December 2019 |work=BBC |date=26 November 2019}}</ref>

==Major exhibitions and retrospectives==
[[File:Agnes varda.jpg|thumb|right|Varda speaking at a 2009 retrospective series of her work at the [[Harvard Film Archive]]]]

* ''Agnès Varda, L’île et elle'', [[Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain]], Paris, France. 18 June – 8 October 2006.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/exhibitions/agnes-varda-lile-et-elle | title=Agnès Varda, L'île et elle|website=fondationcartier.com|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Agnès Varda'' at [[Bildmuseet]], Umeå University, Sweden. 2 June 2013 – 18 August 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/film-tv/helena-lindblad-filmens-lekfulla-lilla-gumma-brann-for-bade-verkligheten-och-fantasin/|title=Helena Lindblad: Filmens lekfulla lilla gumma brann för både verkligheten och fantasin|date=29 March 2019|newspaper=Dagens Nyheter}}</ref>
* ''Agnès Varda in Californialand'' at the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] (LACMA), USA, 3 November 2013 – 22 July 2014.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/agnes-varda-californialand | title=Agnès Varda in Californialand|website=lacma.org|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Agnès Varda - Patates & Compagnie'' at the [[Museum of Ixelles]] in Brussels, Belgium, 25 February – 29 May 2016.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.museumofixelles.irisnet.be/en/exhibitions/previous-exhibitions/exhibitions-2016?set_language=en | title=Agnès Varda - Patates & Compagnie|website=museedixelles.irisnet.be|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Agnès Varda'' at Blum Gallery, New York, USA, 2 March – 15 April 2017.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blum-gallery.com/exhibitions/agns_varda | title=Agnès Varda Organized with Olivier Renaud-Clément|website=blum-gallery.com|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Varda: A Retrospective'' at the [[Lincoln Center]], New York, USA, 20 December 2019 –&nbsp;6 January 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Varda: A Retrospective |url=https://www.filmlinc.org/series/varda-a-retrospective/ |access-date=2022-12-23 |website=Film at Lincoln Center |language=en}}</ref>
* ''Valentine Schlegel par Agnès Varda'' in Galerie [[Nathalie Obadia]], Paris, France, 5 November – 19 December 2020.<ref name=":2" />
* ''Agnès Varda Expo 54'' at Institut pour la Photographie, Lille, France, 8 October – 5 December 2021.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.institut-photo.com/event/agnes-varda-4/ | title=Agnès Varda Expo 54|website=institut-photo.com|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Agnès Varda - My First Life'' at the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, Finland, 13 May – 28 August 2022.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.valokuvataiteenmuseo.fi/en/exhibitions/agnes-varda-my-first-life | title=Agnès Varda - My First Life|website=valokuvataiteenmuseo.fi|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Das dritte Leben der Agnès Varda'' at Silent Green in Berlin, Germany, 9 June – 20 July 2022.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.silent-green.net/en/film-feld-forschung/projects/agnes-varda | title=The Third Life of Agnès Varda|website=silent-green.net|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Agnès Varda – Plages, Cabanes et Coquillages'' in Cannes, France, 8 July – 20 November 2022.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.artcotedazur.fr/actualite,109/exposition,110/agnes-varda-plages-cabanes-et-coquillages-a-cannes,13072.html | title=Agnès Varda : Plages, cabanes et coquillages à Cannes|website=artcotedazur.fr|access-date=5 March 2024}}</ref>
* ''Viva Varda!'': a retrospective exhibit at the [[Cinémathèque française]], Paris, France, 11 October 2023, to 28 January 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cinematheque.fr/exposition/viva-varda.html | title=Viva Varda ! - la Cinémathèque française|website=Cinematheque.fr}}</ref>
* ''Director's Inspiration: Agnès Varda'' at the [[Academy Museum of Motion Pictures]] in Los Angeles, USA, until 5 January 2025.

==Filmography==
===Feature films===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Original title<ref name="filmog">{{cite web|url=http://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-2492/filmographie/ |title=Agnès Varda: Filmographie |work=Allocine |access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref>
! English title 
! Credits
|-
|1955
| ''[[La Pointe Courte]]''
| —
| Director, writer
|-
|1962
| ''Cléo de 5 à 7''
| ''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]''
| Director, writer
|-
|1965
| ''[[Le Bonheur (1965 film)|Le Bonheur]]''
| —
| Director, writer
|-
|1966
| ''[[Les Créatures]]''
| ''The Creatures''
| Director, writer
|-
|1967
| ''Loin du Vietnam''
| ''[[Far from Vietnam]]''
| Co-director
|-
|1969
| ''[[Lions Love]]''
|  —
| Director, writer, producer
|-
|1975
| ''[[Daguerréotypes]]''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1977
| ''L'Une chante, l'autre pas''
| ''[[One Sings, the Other Doesn't]]''
| Director, writer
|-
| 1981
| ''[[Mur Murs]]''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1981
| ''[[Documenteur]]''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1985
| ''Sans toit ni loi''
| ''[[Vagabond (1985 film)|Vagabond]]''
| Director, writer, editor
|-
|1988
|''[[Jane B. par Agnès V.]]''
| ''Jane B. by Agnes V.''
| Director, writer, editor
|-
|1988
| ''Le petit amour''
| ''[[Kung Fu Master (film)|Kung Fu Master]]''
| Director, writer
|-
|1991
| ''[[Jacquot de Nantes]]''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1993
| ''Les demoiselles ont eu 25 ans''
| ''[[The Young Girls Turn 25]]''
| Director, writer
|-
|1995
| ''Les Cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma''
| ''[[A Hundred and One Nights (film)|A Hundred and One Nights]]''
| Director, writer
|-
|1995
| ''L'univers de Jacques Demy''
| ''The World of Jacques Demy''
| Director, writer
|-
|2000
| ''Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse''
| ''[[The Gleaners and I]]''
| Director, writer, producer, editor
|-
|2002
| ''Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse... deux ans après''
| ''The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later''
| Director, producer, editor
|-
|2004
| ''Cinévardaphoto''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|2006
| ''Quelques veuves de Noirmoutier''
|''Some Widows of Noirmoutier''
| Director, writer, editor
|-
|2008
| ''Les plages d'Agnès''
| ''[[The Beaches of Agnès]]''
| Director, writer, producer, editor
|-
|2017
| ''Visages Villages''
| ''[[Faces Places (film)|Faces Places]]''
| Co-Director, writer, editor
|-
|2019
| ''Varda par Agnès''
| ''[[Varda by Agnès]]''
| Director, writer, editor
|}

===Short films===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Original title<ref name="filmog"/>
! English title
! Credits
|-
| 1958
| ''L'opéra-mouffe''
| ''Diary of a Pregnant Woman''
| Director, writer
|-
|1958
| ''La cocotte d'azur''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1958
| ''Du côté de la côte''
| ''Along the Coast / Coasting the Coast''
| Director, writer
|-
|1958
| ''Ô saisons, ô châteaux ''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1960
| ''La Mélangite''
| –
| Director, writer (unfinished due to lack of funding)
|-
|1961
| ''Les fiancés du pont MacDonald<br/>(Méfiez-vous des lunettes noires)''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1963
| ''Salut les cubains''
|  —
| Director
|-
|1965
| ''[[Elsa la rose]]''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1966
| ''Christmas Carole''
|  —
| Director, writer (unfinished due to lack of funding)
|-
|1967
| ''Oncle Yanco''
| ''Uncle Yanco''
| Director, writer
|-
|1968
| ''[[Black Panthers (film)|Black Panthers]]''
|  —
| Director
|-
|1975
| ''Réponse de femmes: Notre corps, notre sexe''
| ''Women Reply''
| Director, writer
|-
|1976
| ''Plaisir d'amour en Iran''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1982
| ''Ulysse''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1984
| ''Les dites cariatides ''
| ''The So-Called Caryatids''
| Director, writer
|-
|1984
|''7p. cuis., s. de b., ... à saisir''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|1986
| ''T'as de beaux escaliers, tu sais ''
| ''You've Got Beautiful Stairs, You Know''
| Director, writer
|-
|2002
| ''Hommage à Zgougou (et salut à Sabine Mamou)''
| ''Tribute to Zgougou the Cat''
| Director, writer
|-
|2003
| ''Le lion volatil''
|  —
| Director, writer
|-
|2004
| ''Ydessa, les ours et etc.''
| ''Ydessa, the Bears etc.''
| Director, writer
|-
|2004
| ''Viennale Walzer''
| ''Vienna International Film Festival 2004 – Trailer''
| Director, writer
|-
|2005
| ''Les dites cariatides bis''
| ''The So-Called Caryatids 2''
| Director, writer
|-
|2005
| ''Cléo de 5 à 7: souvenirs et anecdotes''
| ''Cléo from 5 to 7: Remembrances and Anecdotes''
| Director
|-
|2015
| ''Les 3 Boutons'' 
| ''The Three Buttons''
| Director, writer
|}

===Television work===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Original title<ref name="filmog"/>
! English title
! Credits
|-
|1970
| ''Nausicaa'' (TV movie)
| —
| Director, writer
|-
|1983
| ''Une minute pour une image'' (TV documentary)
| —
| Director
|-
|2010
| ''P.O.V.'', episode 3, season 23, ''The Beaches of Agnès''
| —
| Director, writer, producer, cinematographer
|-
|2011
| ''{{ill|Agnès de ci de là Varda|fr}}'', 5 episodes (TV documentary)
|  —
| Director, writer
|}

==Publications==

* ''La Côte d'Azur, d'azur, d'azur, d'azur'', collection Lieu-dit, Les éditions du Temps (1961) {{OCLC|9817787}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://egs.edu/faculty/agn%C3%A8s-varda |title=Agnès Varda, Professor of Film at The European Graduate School / EGS |publisher=[[European Graduate School]] |access-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630190723/https://egs.edu/faculty/agn%C3%A8s-varda |archive-date=30 June 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* ''Varda par Agnès'', Les Cahiers du Cinéma  (1994, reprint 2005) {{OCLC|2866421450}} {{ISBN|9782866421458}}
* ''Sans toit ni loi: un film d'Agnès Varda'', L'Avant-scène Cinéma, 92 pp. (2003) {{OCLC|2847250220}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb399599701 |title=Notice bibliographique |publisher=[[Bibliothèque nationale de France|BNF]] |access-date=30 March 2019 }}</ref>
* ''L'île et elle: Agnès Varda'', Actes Sud, 81 pp. (2006) {{OCLC|2742762086}} {{ISBN|9782742762088}}
* ''Les Plages d'Agnès: texte illustré du film d'Agnès Varda'', collection Mémoires de César, éditions de l'Œil, 108 pp. (2010) {{OCLC|642213101}} {{ISBN|2351370872}}
* ''Agnès Varda Interviews'', University Press of Mississippi (2013-12) {{ISBN|9781617039201}}
* ''Agnès Varda: Director's Inspiration'', DelMonico Books (2023-11-10) {{ISBN|9781636810607}}
* ''Viva Varda!'', Editions de la Martinière (2023-10-06) {{ISBN|9791040112174}}
* ''Varda par Agnès - l'intégrale'', Editions de la Martinière (2023-11-03) {{ISBN|9782732471525}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|url=https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/4192.htm|title=A History of the French New Wave Cinema|last=Neupert|first=Richard John|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=2007|isbn=9780299217044|edition=2nd|location=Madison, Wis.|oclc=538539415}}
*{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/agnes-varda-is-still-going-places|title=Agnès Varda Is Still Going Places|last=Schwartz|first=Alexandra|date=4 March 2018|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=17 April 2018|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}
*{{Cite book|title=Agnes Varda (Contemporary Film Directors)|last=Conway|first=Kelley|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0252081200}}
*DeRoo, Rebecca J. (2018). ''Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art.'' University of California Press. {{ISBN|9780520279407}}.
*Joanna Bruzdowicz et al. ''Sight and Sound''; June 2019, pp.&nbsp;12–13: "Agnès Varda, 1928–2019"

==External links==
{{Commons category|Agnès Varda}}
*[https://www.cine-tamaris.fr/agnes-varda/ Agnès Varda] at Ciné Tamaris
*{{IMDb name|889513}}
* [https://marteloderubinero.com/index.php?/archives/230-Pioneering-visionary-of-cinema-Agnes-Vardas-impact-on-the-seventh-art.html Pioneering visionary of cinema: Agnès Varda's impact on the seventh art]

{{Agnès Varda}}
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{Donostia Award}}
{{Honorary César}}
{{European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{French New Wave}}
{{Modernism}}

{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varda, Agnes}}
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