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Event
The Beaches of Agnes" - (French Cinema Day Spotlight)
Presented by the SAN JOAQUIN FILM SOCIETY
www.SJIFF.org
FRENCH CINEMA DAY - August 30, 2009
THE BEACHES OF AGNES (Les plages d'Agns)
107 min | France | 2009 | Documentary Feature
Writer / Director: Agns Varda
- ABOUT THE FILM
Four Stars: A great, loving, uplifting film. If you have not seen a single film by Agnes Varda, perhaps it is best if you start with The Beaches of Agnes.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Spellbinding visual beauty reminds you of the transporting power of pure cinema. It attests to the undiminished creativity of a woman who has led a charmed life surrounded by art and artists.
Stephen Holden, The New York Times
(Cinema Guild release) A reflection on art, life and the movies, The Beaches of Agnes is a magnificent new film from the great Agnes Varda, director of Cleo from 5 to 7 and The Gleaners and I, a richly cinematic self portrait that touches on everything from the feminist movement and the Black Panthers to the films of husband Jacques Demy and the birth of the French New Wave.
When one thinks of the major figures of postwar cinema, the name Agns Varda immediately springs to mind. Her body of work in both fiction and documentary is defined by a wealth of innovation and imagination. Irrepressible and enquiring, she is a force of nature, and even at eighty shows no signs of slowing down. Her new film is a reminder that there are few artists capable of such eloquence in cinema.
Varda takes beaches as her point of departure. Though she was not born near the ocean, she would travel to the seaside every Easter and summer during her childhood, and her memories of these trips act as a springboard for the film's meditation on her early life. She recalls her wartime exile to the coastal village of Ste as a period of endless fun and life jackets. While a young adult, Varda began her career as a photographer before raising a family with her husband, Jacques Demy (best known for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and eventually turning to filmmaking. Returning to Ste over a decade after the end of the war, she used the locale and its fishermen as the backdrop for her remarkable first feature film, La Pointe Courte.
Varda weaves photographs, vintage footage, film clips, and present-day sequences into a memorable voyage through her life, during which she confronts the joy of creation and the pain of personal loss, death and aging. It is a singular trip played out against the exciting context of the postwar explosion of cultural expression in France. She knew everyone: her colleagues in the French New Wave, the Black Panthers in California and even Jim Morrison, who would visit when in Paris. Idiosyncratic, engaging and deeply moving, The Beaches of Agnes is a journey through an extraordinary artistic life.
Winner, Best Documentary, Csar Awards, 2009
Winner, Best Film, French Critics Union, 2009
Official Selection, Toronto Int'l Film Festival, 2008
Official Selection, Venice Film Festival, 2008
- ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The San Joaquin Film Society presents French Cinema Day, an SJFS Global Cinema Series, featuring new, celebrated, and award-winning works from French and international filmmakers sharing contemporary experiences, historical events, insightful perspectives and innovative creations.
French Film Day will: showcase the majestic cinematic novel "A Secret" by legendary French director Claude Miller; screen a rare collection of new and innovative short films from up-and-coming directors, featuring the Venice Film Festival-selected "Tony Zoreil" and the Csar Award-nominated "Last Illusions"; and close with a special presentation of the supremely-intelligent autobiographical Spotlight Film "The Beaches of Agns" the 2009 French Academy Award Best Documentary Film.
www.sjiff.org/fcd09
- ABOUT THE SJFS
The San Joaquin Film Society, Inc. (SJFS), home of the San Joaquin International Film Festival, celebrates cinema arts, multi-cultural appreciation, and global outreach through year-round productions of festivals, films, and educational programs. For 2009, in addition to the international film festival in May, SJFS launched an ambitious year of events that includes the 1st San Joaquin Children's Film Festival in January, the 1st California International Documentary Film Festival in October, year-round cinema programs, special events, and educational programs. SJFS is dedicated to celebrating the artistry, diversity, and power of filmmaking; and to bringing the world of cinema to the culturally-rich Central Valley audiences.
Official Website: www.sjiff.org
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LocationStockton Empire Theatre
1825 Pacific Ave.
Stockton, CA 95204
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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