We are used to seeing Agnès Varda in front of the camera, as she unforgettably appeared in numerous of her own films, such as the documentaries The Gleaners and I (2000) and Faces Places (2017). But what does Varda look like portrayed through someone else’s lens and memories? Pierre-Henri Gibert’s documentary Viva Varda! answers this question. Gibert has been granted access to Varda’s archives, utilising abundant unseen material: photographs, writings, and unfinished films. In interviews, Varda’s story is told by her children Mathieu Demy and Rosalie Varda, collaborators like Vagabond (1985) star Sandrine Bonnaire, the recently deceased Jane Birkin, and fellow filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan and Audrey Diwan.
Gibert crafts a gentle portrait that does not shy away from Varda’s less flattering traits. The film also reveals her controlling nature and the marital issues she faced with Jacques Demy. Interestingly, it also examines how Varda, at the later stage of her career, reinvented herself on screen, skillfully building the image of the beloved grandmother figure of French cinema.
Varda, who was part of the French New Wave’s “Left Bank” filmmakers, is also remembered for her visit to Sodankylä in 1991.
Inari Ylinen