AGNES VARDA SHOOTING AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY IN L.A.

Article compiled by Melissa Lavabre, ELMA, from conversations on the set, Dec 2007.

It was a devoted, admiring crew, gathered around French filmmaker Agnes Varda on Venice beach. I am hoping most readers will know who Agnes Varda is but for those of you who may not, let me refresh your memory: probably the most notable of French women directors, sometimes named the Grand Mother of the New Wave but more independent than any movement, she has been making films since the 50s, with early successes such as Cleo de 5 a 7 (Cleo from 5 to 7, 1961), Le Bonheur (Happiness, 1965), or, a bit later, L¹une chante, l'autre pas (One sings, the Other doesn't, 1977), Mur Murs, Documenteur (1981, both shot in L A) Sans toit ni Loi (Vagabond, 1985), Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (The Gleaners and I, 2000),and many more. She has a very distinctive and experimental style one is sure to remember and each film is very different from the others.

Agnes Varda is now 79 years old but she has more energy and determination than anyone around her. Julia her young assistant, confesses she has trouble keeping up with her at times. "She never stops", she says. "We were on a three-week shoot in Sète ( South of France) and only had one day of rest !"

Agnes does not hide her age. As with everything else, she seems to have a playful attitude towards it. She keeps her hair white but has died the bottom all burgundy red, like a ring around her head. Her friend Gerry teases her about her hair style "You look like a monk. I thought you were taking orders."

Her energy is contaminating and everyone works their best to make her vision come alive. She says she needed helpers since she found a very very low budget for her original project.

Agnes's long-time friends ­ whom include producers, directors and actors,are gathered around her at the beach along with new friends, brought by chance, like this young couple and their baby, who recognized and approached her on the pier and claim to have bonded thanks to her movie Vagabond. A table is set out on the beach by the sand dune, laid out with food from craft services. There¹s a guitar, a violin and a clarinet and some are playing music at the foot of the dune. Meanwhile the crew is busy, filming interviews of friends, catching a surfer and asking him to walk through a gold picture frame that two production assistants are holding. Representatives of the French Consulate are also sharing the party.

Most of the shots are planned including a travelling on rails on an asiatic wooden statue but many are improvisational. A whole bus of elderly Russians is doing exercise by the beach, we film them. A homeless man is concentrating on his crosswords puzzles, which he rigorously works on every morning, we film him. On the pier, young skaters, we film them, as well as birds. We get a feel for an eclectic Venice seen through the eyes of an observer always on the lookout.

Agnes Varda is shooting "Les Plages d'Agnès", (the Beaches of Agnes) a film between a documentary and an autobiographical work . She goes back to significant places of her life, shares moments with and presents significant people of it, while catching what¹s happening now. She discovered Los Angeles in the early 60s with her husband, the late Jacques Demy (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and has been coming back since. She shot three feature length films in the city of angels, threading new stories and friendships over the years.