The patroness saint of cinema, Agnès Varda gave us so many gifts, from CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 to VAGABOND and beyond. Her first and last solo directorial efforts provide a perfect launchpad to this series. With the auto-biopic THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS, the beloved director looks back at her life, her love, and her work. Equal parts playful and melancholic, her exploration of the personal becomes a reflection of the universal as she invites the viewer to consider their own history and story. Time traveling back 50 years to LA POINTE COURTE, audiences can see the threads of Varda’s exceptional and humanistic eye. Her debut film, made just as the French New Wave was about to erupt, is set in a fishing village and follows two parallel storylines: one of the everyday life of the villagers, the other about a Parisian couple who come to town to resolve their marital issues. Employing the realistic, documentary-like style that came to define so much of her work, and using non-professional actors, Varda’s LA POINTE COURTE introduced audiences to Varda’s honesty through cinema, the intimacy of her work, and the poetic perspective that have made her films timeless.

Related Event: LA POINTE COURTE Thursday, August 1, 6:00 p.m.

Awards & Nominations

Winner – Best Documentary Film, César Awards, France
Winner – Best Film, French Syndicate of Cinema Critics
Nominee – Queer Lion, Venice Film Festival

Entrances and Exits: With Entrances and Exits, we showcase the first and last films from 10 beloved filmmakers. For this series, we abide by three rules: films included must not be posthumous releases, they must be feature films, and they must be solo directorial efforts. Some of these pairings seem to speak to one another, presenting a cinematic through-line that represents a consistent voice from cinematic cradle to grave. Others represent dramatic departures, reflecting a filmmaker’s leap from emerging artist to heavyweight player. What new elements do we see when we connect these entrances and exits, and how do the bodies of work between them transform when we consider the bookends of a career? Though these filmmakers are no longer with us, they sure did leave an impression. View Entrances and Exits Series. Tickets sold individually for each film.

The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu

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Tags: Agnes Varda, Agnès Varda: THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS (2008), Chicago, Gene Siskel Film Center, Loop, THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS