In celebration of the birth anniversary and enduring legacy of Agnès Varda, we are revisiting one of our favourite conversations on The Artists Podcast.
Joining us is acclaimed film critic Carrie Rickey, former chief film critic of The Philadelphia Inquirer and author of the acclaimed biography A Complicated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnès Varda.
Why did Martin Scorsese call Agnès Varda one of the "gods of cinema"?
From photography to filmmaking to installation art, Varda continually reinvented herself and expanded the possibilities of cinema. Long before many of her contemporaries, she explored themes of feminism, memory, labour, aging, immigration, and identity while creating a cinematic language entirely her own.
In this conversation, we explore:
- Varda's relationships with artists, filmmakers, and intellectuals
- Her transition from photography to cinema and installation art
- How she developed her own cinematic grammar
- The French New Wave and her place within it
- Her partnership with Jacques Demy
- Her friendships with Andy Warhol, Susan Sontag, Jim Morrison, and many others
- Why her work continues to inspire filmmakers across generations, including Martin Scorsese
04:15 Varda's relationships with people — Jim Morrison, Susan Sontag & others
14:02 Creating a new cinematic syntax
17:25 The challenges of financing films
21:00 "Jumping into the swimming pool"
23:00 The complicated relationship between Varda and Jacques Demy
27:00 Encounters with Andy Warhol, Susan Sontag & other cultural icons
29:00 What happens when both husband and wife are filmmakers? How Demy's career affected Varda's trajectory
32:00 How Varda bought back her films to own the copyright
33:00 Agnès Varda, Jim Morrison, and a funeral shorter than a Doors song
38:12 Martin Scorsese's admiration for Agnès Varda
A conversation about cinema, creativity, artistic independence, and one of the most original artists of the twentieth century.
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