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Agnès Varda is one of what Roud has described as the 'left bank New Wave'. Her directorial credits are extensive and she is a close friend of Chris Marker. Varda studied literature at the Sorbonne, art history at the Ecole du Louvre, and photography. Though Belgian by birth she is one of the few women who are recognised as a director within the pantheon that is the French New Wave and more particularly is a key figure in the group that more or less consists of herself, Alain Resnais and Chris Marker. Varda with La Pointe courte (1954) started working as a film maker well before most other New Wave directors had managed to direct their first features:
"Unfortunately for Varda, La Pointe Courte (which was edited by Alain Resnais, who initially refused to work on it because Varda's techniques were close to those which he was developing) would be the only feature she would make in the 1950s. Although she lit the fuse under the New Wave, it was not until the explosive feature debuts of her male counterparts that Varda received another opportunity to direct a feature, Cleo from 5 to 7 (1961), which established her as a significant talent on the international film scene." (Monaco, et al., p. 549.)
Last Updated, July 1995.