Anticipating the style and attitude of the New Wave, Agnès Varda’s directorial début remains as fresh and original as the day it was made.

Set in a declining Mediterranean fishing village, the film portrays both the complex relationship between a married couple, exceptionally played by Silvia Monfort and Philippe Noiret, and the economic difficulties facing the wider community.

Remarkably assured and insightful, the film bears the realist approach, social comment and filmmaking flair that would become Varda’s hallmarks.

Revered for her bold political and autobiographically inspired work, Agnès Varda is a seminal feminist filmmaker and matriarch of the French New Wave. Her influential career began in the 1950s with La Pointe Courte – often considered the unofficial first film of the New Wave – and continues seven decades later, as in 2017 she became the first female director to be awarded an honorary Oscar. To celebrate the release of Agnès Varda’s new film Faces Places (which will be coming to our screen in October), we will be screening a selection of her work.