Google Doodle celebrates the life and work of renowned French New Wave director, Agnès Varda, with an illustration that celebrates her life and work. One year ago today, the European Film Academy awarded the award-winning director an honorary Lifetime Achievement Award. Varda, considered by many to be one of the most influential directors of the French New Wave, was 90 years old. She is best known for her award-winning documentaries, including Faces Places, which earned her a 2018 Oscar nomination.
Google pays tribute to director Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda was born on May 30, 1928 in Brussels, Belgium under the name Arlette. At the age of 12, her family moved to Sète, France. Varda continued his studies of art history and photography at the Sorbonne. After her studies, Varda began a career as a photographer, taking photos for various magazines and the Téâtre National Populare. Varda decided to make films by drawing inspiration from her photographs. Her first film, released in 1955, was called ‘La Pointe Courte’. The film was a mixture of fiction and documentary-style discussions, as Varda was a self-taught filmmaker. She never studied filmmaking, so she wasn’t bound by industry standards. Her willingness to break norms and introduce new experiments made her one of the pioneers of the French New Wave, the only director of that movement.
During her career, Agnes Varda has directed more than 40 short films, feature films and documentaries that explore the complexity of humanity. Her notable films include Cleo (1995), From 5 to 7 (1997), Vagabond (2004) and the award-winning The Gleaner and I (2006). As a feminist, Varda focused on women’s stories in many of her films. She defended women’s reproductive choices in the 1977 film L’une chante (l’autre pas), which she described as a “feminist musical”. Varda was a strong supporter of women’s rights. She and other French women signed Manifesto 343, in which she publicly stated that these women had abortions in the past and called on politicians to legalize abortion.
In 2003, Varda began experimenting with new formats, including video installations. Since then, she has exhibited her impressive art installations in cities around the world, including Ghent and New York, as well as Beijing and Paris. Varda has been awarded several awards, including the Lumières Award and an Oscar nomination for her film “Faces Places”. Her films have also been nominated for several other awards, including a César Award for “The Beaches Of Agnés”, a Golden Lion for “Sans toit Ni loi” (The Vagabond) and a Lifetime Achievement Award for her film work. Agnès found her way through the self-production of her films, embodying the true essence of artistic freedom and creative perseverance.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education