Pavilion Shorts: Agnes Varda

Description

This month’s Pavilion Shorts program brings together four films by Agnès Varda as part of I’m Curious. Period. Each film starts with a 'spark', a small detail that catches Varda's eye. Known to find beauty in unexpected places, Varda masterfully displays that you don't need a big story to tell something interesting.

In Les dites cariatides (1984), a curious observation of caryatids (sculptured female figures) turns into an art-history lesson and feminist essay. By revisiting a mysterious photograph she took 30 years ago, Ulysse (1983) examines the photographic medium's ability to chronicle the ever-changing present, while acknowledging its limitations to fully express the past. During a work trip to sunny San Francisco, Agnes introduces us and herself to a relative she has never met before: her Uncle Yanco (1967) and in Du côté de la côte (1958) the French Riviera is not just a holiday destination, it is a sociological phenomenon.

Tickets & Times

Accessibility

Composition

Ulysse

Departing from an almost 30-year-old photograph, Agnès Varda makes a moving voyage through time. Who are the people in the photo, and how do they look back on that day? These questions lead us into the twilight zone between memory, fact, and fiction.

Du côté de la côte

In the late 1950s, Varda turned her camera to the French Côte d’Azur. This newly restored short film is a wonderfully colorful period document, full of witticisms, historical commentary, and both staged and spontaneous atmospheric impressions.

Les dites cariatides

With admiration and a fresh feminist perspective, Varda explores the caryatids of Paris—sculpted figures of women who appear to be supporting parts of buildings on their heads. She connects them with the poetry of Baudelaire and the music of Offenbach.

Oncle Yanco

With this inventive and charming portrait of her “uncle” Yanco, Agnès Varda creates both a snapshot of 1960s San Francisco and a loving tribute to a creative kindred spirit.

Tickets & Times

Accessibility