Delve Deeper into The Beaches of Agnès A film by Agnès Varda

In this delightful memoir, award-winning French filmmaker Agnès Varda (Vagabond, Cléo From 5 to 7) employs all the magic of cinema to juxtapose the real and the imagined, the past and the present, pain and joy. For this 81-year-old artist, memories live through her films. In The Beaches of Agnès, she uses film clips, old photos and gorgeous reenactments to revisit her Belgian youth, association with the French New Wave, marriage to director Jacques Demy (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and the making of her movies. You don’t need to know anything about Varda to enjoy this enchanting glimpse into the treasure chest of her memories.

ADULT NONFICTION Agnès Varda Quart, Barbara. Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1989. Quart examines major contemporary women directors of narrative feature film--their themes, their art, and the circumstances under which they work. The study looks at today's burgeoning number of women directors and progresses to American women directors as well as women directors in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Smith, Alison. Agnès Varda (French Film Directors). Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1998. A close analysis of the recurring themes in Agnès Varda’s distinctive cinema. French New Wave Greene, Naomi. The French New Wave: A New Look (Short Cuts). London: Wallflower Press, 2007. This volume traces the social and cultural changes of post-war France that gave birth to the New Wave, then charts the careers of artists like Alain Renais and Jean-Luc Godard. Marie, Michel. The French New Wave: An Artistic School. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2003. An introduction to the French New Wave by one of the world’s leading film scholars.

Neupert, Richard. A History of the French New Wave Cinema. Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2002. An in-depth look at the social, economic, and aesthetic mechanisms that shaped French film in the 1950s and early 1960s. Sellier, Geneviève. Masculine Singular: French New Wave Cinema. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2008. An original interpretation of French New Wave cinema by one of France’s feminist film scholars. Temple, Michael. For Ever Godard. London: Black Dog Publishing, 2007. Temple offers a collection of essays that reassess and redefine Godard’s career and its influence on contemporary culture. Documentary Filmmaking Artis, Anthony Q. The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide. Burlington, MA: Focal Press, 2008. This guide for documentary filmmakers is intended for people who want to make documentary films, not just talk about them. Bernard, Sheila Curran. Documentary Storytelling: Making Stronger and More Dramatic Nonfiction Films. Burlington, MA: Focal Press, 2009. Bernard’s book guides filmmakers in using storytelling techniques to strengthen their documentary films. Rabiger, Michael. Directing the Documentary. Burlington, MA: Focal Press, 2009. This book is an extensive and detailed guide to documentary filmmaking covering all aspects of do-it-yourself film production.

NONFICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS Parkinson, David. The Young Oxford Book of the Movies. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. This volume covers the history of movies, both technologically and artistically, including the French New Wave.

ADULT FICTION Moravia, Alberto. Contempt. New York, NY: New York Review of Books, 1999. A compelling tale of the precarious nature of love and integrity, this book was later made into a film by Jean-Luc Godard and starred Brigitte Bardot.

FILMS/DOCUMENTARIES À bout de souffle (Breathless) by Jean-Luc Godard, Criterion Collection, 1960 TRT: 90 mins. Godard’s debut film helped usher in the French New Wave with its rough edges and free-form style. Breathless is both a critique and tribute to the American crime genre. www.amazon.com Cinévardaphoto by Agnès Varda, Cinema Guild, 2004. TRT: 96 mins. This collection of short films examines the power of the still image. www.amazon.com 4 by Agnès Varda (La Pointe Courte, Cléo from 5 to 7, Le bonheur, Vagabond) by Agnès Varda, Criterion Collection, 2008. TRT: 345 mins. This set includes four of Agnès Varda most well-know films La Pointe Courte (1956), Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Le Bonheur (1965), and Vagabond (1985). www.criterion.com The Gleaners and I by Agnès Varda, Zeitgeist Films, 2002. TRT:142 mins. In this documentary Varda investigates the lives of those who find subsistence from what is left behind by others. Inhabitants of the French countryside search the harvested fields for forgotten produce, some by choice and others by necessity. www.amazon.com Les parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) by Jacques Demy, Koch Lorber Films, 1964. TRT: 91 mins. Demy’s bittersweet romantic drama in which nearly all the dialogue is sung became one of his most celebrated works. This seminal film also introduced the world to Catherine Deneuve. www.amazon.com

Delve Deeper into The Beaches of Agnès A film by Agnès Varda

Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows) by Francois Truffaut, Criterion Collection, 1959 TRT: 99 mins. Truffaut’s first film chronicles the childhood of the misunderstood and forgotten Antoine Doinel. The film is based on the filmmaker’s own childhood and is considered to be one of the pillars of the French New Wave. www.amazon.com The World of Jacques Demy by Agnès Varda, Fox Lorber Films, 1995 TRT: 90 mins. The influential auteur of the French New Wave and husband of Agnès Varda is the subject of this intimate biography. www.amazon.com