agnes varda – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

TIFF honors Agnes Varda – Liz Braun reports

August 19, 2023 Liz Braun agnes varda, TIFF, TIFF 2023

The Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled a beautiful new space that honors filmmaker Agnes Varda who was a TIFF regular, bringing new films to the festival some years, while having her best-known movies feted and re-examined in others. Her last movie, Varda By Agnes, was at TIFF 2019, six months after her death. Named Varda, the new space is a sleek cafe-bar on the third floor of the Bell Lightbox building — TIFF headquarters —and it will open officially in the fall. During TIFF, which runs September 7 – 17 this year, it will be open exclusively to filmmakers and top-tier patrons of the festival, but after the annual celebration of cinema wraps up, all TIFF members will be invited to a special preview of Varda before the cafe-bar opens to the public.

Reviews

MIU MIU WOMEN’S TALES – Review by Marilyn Ferdinand

September 22, 2020September 23, 2020 Marilyn Ferdinand (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments agnes varda, Ava DuVernay, chloe sevigny, haifaa al monsour, lucrecia martel, mati diop, miu miu. woman's tales, shorts

For roughly the past decade, Italian high-fashion brand Miu Miu, a subsidiary of Prada, has been commissioning and releasing short films from some of the world’s most renowned women directors. As long as the films include Miu Miu fashions and accessories, the directors have been free to express their own creative impulses and personalities. Within the series, film fans will recognize signature flourishes along with great invention.

News

DuVernay and Jenks get Funko Pops, per AWFJ’s Suggestion! Yes!!! – Jennifer Merin reports

April 29, 2020May 3, 2020 Jennifer Merin 0 Comments agnes varda, Ava DuVernay, catherine hardwicke, comic con, female film directors, funko pops, leslie combemale, movie memorabilia, Patty Jenkins

There’s no way to know how much, if any, Funko’s introduction of Female Film Director Pops was influenced by Leslie Combemale’s essay for AWFJ.org in 2018, but in March, 2020, Funko introduced it’s Ava DuVernay Pop. The Patty Jenkins Pop followed in April.

Festivals

NEW YORK FILM FEST ’19: Great (but too few) Female Filmmakers – Jennifer Merin reports

October 17, 2019October 20, 2019 Jennifer Merin 0 Comments 5050x2020, agnes varda, alla kovgan, angele schanelec, Céline Sciamma, gender parity, ivy meeropol, joan churchill, justine triet, kelly reichert, Kent Jones, lynn novick, mati diop, New York Film Festival, nyff, Tania Cypriano

Programming for this year’s 57th New York Film Festival, held from September 15 to October 23, suggests that this highly regarded cinema showcase has little regard for the 5050×2020 gender parity initiative. Of the 66 feature films presented in this year’s 26-day schedule, just 11 were directed by women. That’s a mere 16.666666666667%, and a very long short fall from the 50/50 by 2020 goal. That said, the female-directed films that were showcased in this year’s NYFF program are absolutely brilliant. Here’s a run down.

Reviews

SERENDIPITY – Review by Loren King

October 17, 2019October 19, 2019 Loren King 0 Comments agnes varda, cancer, documentary, motw, Movie of the Week, prune nourry, seremdipity, sutobiographical

If you don’t know French artist Prune Nourry — and I didn’t before watching her documentary If you don’t know French artist Prune Nourry — and I didn’t before watching her documentary Serendipity — this personal and profound film is a great introduction to a singular creative force and fascinating person.

Reviews

SERENDIPITY – Review by Sheila Roberts

October 17, 2019October 19, 2019 Sheila Roberts (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments agnes varda, autobiographical, cancer, documentary, motw, Movie of the Week, prune nourry, serendipity

French-born artist Prune Nourry’s autobiographical documentary, Serendipity, is a stunning first feature that explores in her own words her impassioned yet contemplative response to a potentially devastating breast cancer diagnosis she received in 2016 at age 31.

News

Week In Women: VARDA BY AGNES has NYFF screening and NY release – Brandy McDonnell reports

September 5, 2019September 5, 2019 Brandy McDonnell 0 Comments agnes varda, documentaries, janus films, New York Film Festival, nyff, varda by agnes

Filmmaking legend Agnès Varda‘s final film, “Varda by Agnès,” will open Nov. 22 in select cinemas in New York City, followed by a nationwide rollout.

Reviews

Sydney FF 2019: VARDA BY AGNÈS – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

June 27, 2019June 27, 2019 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas 0 Comments agnes by varda, agnes varda, sydney film festival

Varda By Agnès is a sprawling, wandering film that reveals how the seemingly different strands of our lives can diverge, intersect, vanish and return. At the heart of this is simply the experience of having lived a full life, where Varda was influenced by the people she met and worked with as much as she influenced them. “Real people are the heart of my work”, she says simply at one point, noting elsewhere “nothing is trite if you film people with empathy and love”.

Festivals News

What’s Up Down Under? “Viva Varda” at Sydney Film Fest – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Reports

May 16, 2019May 20, 2019 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas 0 Comments agnes varda, beaches of agnes, cleo from 9 to 5, sydney film festival, varda by agnes

Marking the legacy of influential French filmmaker Agnès Varda whose recent passing triggered a torrent of both deep grief and loving memorials from cinephiles across the globe, the upcoming Sydney Film Festival celebrates her unparalleled career with a near-exhaustive program of her most significant films.

Commentaries

For Agnes Varda: A Memorial Tribute and Celebration

March 30, 2019June 27, 2019 Loren King 0 Comments agnes varda, betsy bozdech, brandy mcdonnell, cleo from 5 to 7, faces places, jennifer merin, loren king, Marilyn Ferdinand., Movie of the Week

RIP Agnes Varda. You have left the mortal realm of moviemakers, but your films, curiosity, love of life and feminism are still guiding lights for audiences who believe that movies matter. The Alliance of Women Film Critics honors your memory with this collective tribute of articles and reviews by members of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists.

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