From Here to There [2011]

 Pioneering Left Bank filmmaker, life-long documentarian, passionate photographer, feminist icon, lover of art both high and low, collector of experiences and souvenirs, conversationalist, globetrotter – Agnès Varda was an extraordinary mix of diverse facets, and many of these were on infectious display in this freewheeling, charming and playful docu miniseries. Spread over nearly 4 hours, this was in equal parts diary film, travelogue, political statement, and irreverent reflections on cinema, contemporary art scenes and creativity. Her zigzagging travels took her, over the course of a year, from Paris to Nantes and Lyon and the French countryside, from Berlin and Brussels to Basel and Cologne, and from Stockholm and St. Petersburg to LA and Rio and Mexico City. And, over the course of these journeys, a kaleidoscopic portrait emerged through her fascinating encounters and interactions – a glimpse into Chris Marker’s cluttered but eclectic studio; seeing 102-year old Manoel de Oliveira, who’d just completed The Strange Case of Angelica, impersonating Chaplin; asking Sokurov about his feature-length tracking shot through the Hermitage in Russian Ark; discussing with Reygadas about the sex scene in Japon; having a conversation on work and marriage with conceptual artists Christian Boltanski and Annette Messager; reminiscing about her late husband Jacques Demy during a 50^th anniversary celebration of his film Lola; interacting with Glauber Rocha’s family; meeting one of the fishermen from her debut film La Pointe Courte; attending a poetry recital by Jean-Louis Trintignant; visiting Frida Kahlo’s home, etc. These vignettes combined to provide a delightful peek into her infinite curiosity, breakthtaking range of interests, humanism, love for people and their stories, deep understanding of diverse artistic expressions, self-deprecating wit, and irrepressible desire to constantly break new grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

Director: Agnes Varda

Genre: Documentary/Diary Film/Mini-Series

Language: French

Country: France