IDFA Institute | Agnès Varda Retrospective

Agnès Varda Retrospective

APR 11, 2025 - MAY 28, 2025

I'm curious. Period. Agnès Varda: A Documentary Retrospective

This spring will bring a retrospective celebrating the documentaries of pioneering and iconic French filmmaker and artist Agnes Varda (1928 – 2019). Over the course of her 60-year career she seamlessly navigated between fiction and documentary, exploring a vast array of topics. Through her endless curiosity, intimate relationship with her subjects and resilience she also inspired many generations of film audiences as well as filmmakers.

While many people may be familiar with Varda’s fiction films, this retrospective will be a unique opportunity for audiences to (re)discover her documentaries. It will bring together a selection of her short and long non-fiction films, ranging from her early work in the 1950’s like L’opera Mouffe (1958) all the way up to her final documentary Varda par Agnès (2019). Other films include Black Panthers (1968) shot during the summer of 1968 in Oakland California around the meetings organised by the Black Panthers Party; the travelogue Salut les Cubains! (1963) made from over four hundred still photographs taken during a trip to Cuba in the wake of its 1959 revolution; or and Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (2000) exploring the world of modern-day gleaners.

Patates Douces: an edible tribute

In celebration of the Agnès Varda retrospective I’m curious. Period., Amsterdam-based collective Maison Dante has created a culinary tribute to the director. The carefully packaged sweet offerings (a spicy brownie, pandan cake, yuzu wagashi and red bean nerikiri) are inspired by Varda’s The Gleaners and I. Perfect as a snack during the film or to take home as a souvenir.

Order your Patates Douces here!