Hollywood is mourning the death of Agnès Varda. The French filmmaker passed away earlier today. Varda was known as the Godmother of the French New Wave movement, her films included Faces Places, Vagabond, Cleo de 5 a 7 and Les glaneurs et la glaneuse (The Gleaners and I).
The Cannes Film Festival where Varda was a fixture on the Festival’s jury said, “Immense sadness. For almost 65 years, Agnès Varda’s eyes and voice embodied cinema with endless inventiveness. The place she occupied is irreplaceable. Agnès loved images, words and people. She’s one of those whose youth will never fade.” Director and filmmaker Ava DuVernay tweeted:
Last year at Cannes, Agnès Varda invited me to breakfast. She spoke of how she was in the last year of her life. About choices. And change. I told her what she meant to me. She held my hand as I did. Merci, Agnes. For your films. For your passion. For your light. It shines on. pic.twitter.com/NP2FSJACY9
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) March 29, 2019
The Academy who honored Varda with an honorary Governors Award in 2017 tweeted:
Martin Scorsese said, “I seriously doubt that Agnès Varda ever followed in anyone else’s footsteps, in any corner of her life or her art…which were one in the same. She charted and walked her own path each step of the way, she and her camera. Every single one of her remarkable handmade pictures, so beautifully balanced between documentary and fiction, is like no one else’s—every image, every cut… What a body of work she left behind: movies big and small, playful and tough, generous and solitary, lyrical and unflinching…and alive. I saw her for the last time a couple of months ago. She knew that she didn’t have much longer, and she made every second count: she didn’t want to miss a thing. I feel so lucky to have known her. And to all young filmmakers: you need to watch Agnès Varda’s pictures.”
Aaron Stewart-Ahn said:
Agnès Varda… One of the greatest moments of my life was getting to spend a day with her. This is the story of how exactly she became a filmmaker on her own terms in 1954 & an interview & photos on how she was making art until now. Will miss her forever. https://t.co/8MbamdCJpC
— Aaron Stewart-Ahn (@somebadideas) March 29, 2019
Carol screenplay writer Phyllis Nagy shared,
"I'm missing some people, you know, and this is not nostalgia. I miss them. This is melancholy." – Agnes Varda pic.twitter.com/0ZHpNPVcTQ
— Phyllis Nagy (@PhyllisNagy) March 29, 2019
Madonna who called Varda “one of my favorite filmmakers” posted:
Farewell to one of my favorite filmmakers— Agnes Varda 🎥🖤always a curious, creative, child like spirit to the last. moment. We will miss you!! #agnesvarda #rip pic.twitter.com/vjNMhr2apq
— Madonna (@Madonna) March 29, 2019
Varda’s last documentary was Faces Places. In the words of Cannes Film Festival Giles Jacobs, “Varda’s gone, but Agnès will still be here.”
Rest In Peace France’s National Treasure.
