Sun May 4, 2014
Agnès Varda: From Here to There, Agnès Varda (France, 2011)
SEE EVENT DETAILS
at Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
(see times)
San Francisco International Film Festival @ BAM/PFA
Armed with her inimitable insight and ability to find beauty where one least expects it, director Agnès Varda travels to various far-flung locales in this five-part miniseries originally made for French television. Invited to various cinematheques and museums to present her work, she uses the opportunities to look up old friends, interview filmmakers who interest her, or discover new artists working in their chosen mediums. In Berlin, she searches for bears and Beuys sculptures; in Portugal, she photographs the country’s famous azulejo ceramics and gets the 102-year-old director Manoel de Oliveira to do a wonderful Chaplin imitation; and in Venice, she makes an overview of artists represented in the Biennale. But these examples only scratch the surface of the wide-ranging travels and investigations she undertakes over the course of the program. Throughout, Varda’s extraordinary empathy, curiosity, and playfulness make numerous puckish and interesting connections between her vast points of interest. After all, this is someone who is good friends with Red Shoe Diaries creator Zalman King and the intellectually rigorous filmmaker Chris Marker, both of whom are visited here. “When you look closely, things become very beautiful,” Varda exclaims in voiceover at one point, and viewers of Agnès Varda: From Here to There will be exceedingly grateful to have her as their tour guide.
—Rod Armstrong
• Photographed by Varda. (225 mins)
show less
Armed with her inimitable insight and ability to find beauty where one least expects it, director Agnès Varda travels to various far-flung locales in this five-part miniseries originally made for French television. Invited to various cinematheques and museums to present her work, she uses the opportunities to look up old friends, interview filmmakers who interest her, or discover new artists working in their chosen mediums. In Berlin, she searches for bears and Beuys sculptures; in Portugal, she photographs the country’s famous azulejo ceramics and gets the 102-year-old director Manoel de Oliveira to do a wonderful Chaplin imitation; and in Venice, she makes an overview of artists represented in the Biennale. But these examples only scratch the surface of the wide-ranging travels and investigations she undertakes over the course of the program. Throughout, Varda’s extraordinary empathy, curiosity, and playfulness make numerous puckish and interesting connections between her vast points of interest. After all, this is someone who is good friends with Red Shoe Diaries creator Zalman King and the intellectually rigorous filmmaker Chris Marker, both of whom are visited here. “When you look closely, things become very beautiful,” Varda exclaims in voiceover at one point, and viewers of Agnès Varda: From Here to There will be exceedingly grateful to have her as their tour guide.
—Rod Armstrong
• Photographed by Varda. (225 mins)
San Francisco International Film Festival @ BAM/PFA
Armed with her inimitable insight and ability to find beauty where one least expects it, director Agnès Varda travels to various far-flung locales in this five-part miniseries originally made for French television. Invited to various cinematheques and museums to present her work, she uses the opportunities to look up old friends, interview filmmakers who interest her, or discover new artists working in their chosen mediums. In Berlin, she searches for bears and Beuys sculptures; in Portugal, she photographs the country’s famous azulejo ceramics and gets the 102-year-old director Manoel de Oliveira to do a wonderful Chaplin imitation; and in Venice, she makes an overview of artists represented in the Biennale. But these examples only scratch the surface of the wide-ranging travels and investigations she undertakes over the course of the program. Throughout, Varda’s extraordinary empathy, curiosity, and playfulness make numerous puckish and interesting connections between her vast points of interest. After all, this is someone who is good friends with Red Shoe Diaries creator Zalman King and the intellectually rigorous filmmaker Chris Marker, both of whom are visited here. “When you look closely, things become very beautiful,” Varda exclaims in voiceover at one point, and viewers of Agnès Varda: From Here to There will be exceedingly grateful to have her as their tour guide.
—Rod Armstrong
• Photographed by Varda. (225 mins)
read more
Armed with her inimitable insight and ability to find beauty where one least expects it, director Agnès Varda travels to various far-flung locales in this five-part miniseries originally made for French television. Invited to various cinematheques and museums to present her work, she uses the opportunities to look up old friends, interview filmmakers who interest her, or discover new artists working in their chosen mediums. In Berlin, she searches for bears and Beuys sculptures; in Portugal, she photographs the country’s famous azulejo ceramics and gets the 102-year-old director Manoel de Oliveira to do a wonderful Chaplin imitation; and in Venice, she makes an overview of artists represented in the Biennale. But these examples only scratch the surface of the wide-ranging travels and investigations she undertakes over the course of the program. Throughout, Varda’s extraordinary empathy, curiosity, and playfulness make numerous puckish and interesting connections between her vast points of interest. After all, this is someone who is good friends with Red Shoe Diaries creator Zalman King and the intellectually rigorous filmmaker Chris Marker, both of whom are visited here. “When you look closely, things become very beautiful,” Varda exclaims in voiceover at one point, and viewers of Agnès Varda: From Here to There will be exceedingly grateful to have her as their tour guide.
—Rod Armstrong
• Photographed by Varda. (225 mins)
show less
Date/Times:
Pacific Film Archive (PFA) Theater
2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94720
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