Belgian-born Varda has been called the mother of the French New Wave. Her first feature, LA POINTE COURTE (1956) – which she wrote and directed with no formal training – is considered to be the film that inspired the movement. Varda has experimented with all forms of filmmaking from shorts to documentaries to narrative feature films during her more than 60-year career, including such works as the New Wave classic CLEO FROM 5 TO 7, LE BONHEUR, VAGABOND, her autobiographical documentary THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS and her most recent work, FACES PLACES.
1928
Agnès Varda is born to a Greek father and French mother in Belgium.
1954
With no film school or industry experience, Varda becomes an early force in the French New Wave with her first feature, LA POINTE COURTE, which pre-dates pivotal works to come by Truffaut and Godard. The achievement earns her the unofficial title, “Mother of the French New Wave.”
1962
Varda’s second feature, CLEO FROM 5 TO 7, becomes a major international success. Set in real time as a pop singer awaits the results of a medical test, the film is considered a landmark in world cinema and particularly the French New Wave. The same year, she marries Jacques Demy, the acclaimed director of such films as THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, LOLA and THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT.
1965
The visually lush LE BONHEUR startles audiences with its shocking ending and goes on to win the Prix Louis Delluc and the Silver Bear at Berlin.
1985
Editor Mako Kamitsuna shares how Varda's VAGABOND shaped her film education and led to an unexpected road trip.
1988
Esteemed French-British actress Jane Birkin teams up with Varda for the unorthodox romance, KUNG FU MASTER.
1990
Jacques Demy passes away. Shortly before his death, he was on set as Varda made the film JACQUOT DE NANTES, released in 1991 and based on Demy’s childhood. In 1995, she also directs a documentary about his work, THE WORLD OF JACQUES DEMY; she and their son, Mathieu Demy, are instrumental in the decades-long process of preserving and reissuing his films.
2008
Varda directs the self-portrait feature THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS.
2017
She debuts her crowdsourced documentary VISAGES VILLAGES, created in collaboration with street artist JR.
2017
Varda will be awarded an Oscar for her work on November 11, 2017. In this clip, director Todd Haynes celebrates her place in film history.