I first discovered Agnès Varda in the whimsical, beautiful documentary Faces Places, in which Varda roadtrips across small towns France with the photographer and muralist J.R., and together they meet people in different villages, and capture them in large scale portraits. As a lover of portraits and characters, I was hooked.

I had heard of Varda, a well-known and loved French Director, but hadn't seen her work. And though I make films myself, I don't have a great knowledge of film history. When I watched Varda's (and I have many more to! Am trying to access more that seem unavialble online) - it was a revelation; so personal and relatable, while being artful and wacky. They are almost always quirky, emotional depictions often of women in difficult situations, captured in their everyday life, and portraits of their intimate relationships - as mothers, lovers, neighbors, and more. The voice of her films, like her own voice, is open and funny, empathetic and bold, all at once.

She started as a photographer; "“I put fliers up in my bakery, my butcher, maybe twenty shops nearby… I just gave my neighbors a little flier. And some people came. Among my neighbors, I must say, there was the painter Hans Hartung and the [legendary photographer] Brassai, who lived on the next street. I took a portrait of Brassai on film, later.”

I invite you to explore some of her films, her photographs, and words of wisdom, as an artist and feminist who went after exactly what she wanted to make, even when she didn't have the resources for it- and continued throughout her long life (she passed at 90, in 2019); she was the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Academy Award and the first female director to receive an honorary Oscar. And throughout her life and afterwards, inspired so many, including myself!