Agnes Varda
Yesterday, I got to visit Agnes Varda grave and house. Before this trip, I didn't really know much about her. I knew she was a filmmaker but I didn't release how huge of an impact she had on the industry and on France too.
I learned that Agnes is consider the "mother of the French New Wave". She was a photographer before she was a director and knew very little about films. One day, she set heart to make a film and the rest is history. She become a beloved directors and quickly grew the respect of filmmakers in France. When making films, she went outside the box and didn't follow the traditions standard of film. She wanted her work to be about ordinary people that she sees in her daily life and to be center on women. I think Agnes Varda is a great role model to women in cinema and to women outside that too. She made sure that women were the center of films and also explored deeper meaning to then instead of them just standing there and looking pretty.
What I think made her contribution important was that she took the time to make sure everyone's story gets told. She was a photographer before she was a filmmaker which probably helped her know what to films and what stands out to viewers. She brought in the idea that women can be great filmmakers and that people should pay more attention to them. She wanted to focus her movies on ordinary people and paved the path to future filmmakers that movies didn't have to follow the traditional route. She also was the founder of the French New Wave. She made more a documentary than a theatrical, classic films which a new approach to make films back then. You can tell that france has changed it view on films and women director because of her.
In my opinion, I think she has been commemorated well for her achievement. Her grave stone is very well loved. It it covered in kisses and small trinkets like a heart shape potatoes. She has a Muriel dedicated to her filled with her films achievement. One think I admire was that she had the option to have a street, where she lived, named after her but she declined. The street was already name after someone she admire and look up too and she wanted it to be left alone to show where she got her inspiration from. For me, I can tell that she was greatly admire in France and that she left a mark.
Very well said Audrey. She really is an inspiration to aspiring female directors. Agnès reminded us that Paris was a place where anyone could come and be seen. It might have taken some work but it was possible. The city was different compared to others. Learning about her deepens our understanding of Paris as a cultural capital because of its roots in art, history, and storytelling.
ReplyDeleteAwesome job girly!!! I especially like what you said in the begin about how just creative she was because she brought in different perspectives like her background in photography, not really knowing other films, and of course being a woman. And I think as you said, she made sure other peoples stories were being told and I think that can help us to get different perspectives of french and parisian people.
ReplyDeleteGood job with this blog post! Agnes Varda is so cool and I'm so glad that we had the chance to focus on her during this study abroad. There are some parts of your post that make me wonder if the professors will think that you're adequately answering the questions. I would make sure to give those a quick read and to be very clear about when you're answering which question, not because that's a good writing strategy, only because that makes your writing easier to grade. I think that this blog post would really help you to answer questions 1-3 on the final. I believe in you! You're so good!
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