“I’m one of the oldest film-makers still working - in the oldest cinema ever made, which is also still working!”
Photographer, artist, writer and director Agnes Varda’s self-deprecating introduction underlined her Brighton Festival visit wasn’t going to be a dry film lecture.
Armed with extracts from more than 60 years of film-making Varda talked about her naturalistic methods, her signature combination of fiction and documentary, and how her stories found her.
It formed both a well of stories for fans to drink in, and an introduction to those new to her world.
But the biggest insights came in the closing Q&A session. Prompted by audience questions she revealed her biggest disaster - the star-packed 101 Nights - remembered her last days with late husband Jacques Demy, and described spotting the gleaners who inspired her acclaimed 2000 documentary.
For the film student perhaps the biggest revelation was her admittance she had only seen about five films before she started making her own - instead drawing on the likes of Picasso, Degas, Joyce and Faulkner for inspiration.
As she put it: “If I had seen ten of the masterpieces I saw later on I wouldn’t have thought to start making films. I was blessed by my ignorance.”
Four stars
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