Agnès Varda, influential French New Wave filmmaker, dies at 90


French director Agnès Varda has died at 90.
Varda, who has been called the mother of the French New Wave, died in her home on Friday following a battle with breast cancer, The New York Times reports.
Born in 1928, Varda made her directorial debut with 1955's La Pointe Courte, which Criterion points out was a particularly impressive first feature considering she says she had seen very few films prior to making it. Some of Varda's subsequent work includes Cleo From 5 to 7 and The Gleaners and I, the latter of which was voted the eighth greatest documentary of all time in Sight & Sound, notes The Hollywood Reporter.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In 2017, Varda received an Honorary Oscar and at the 2018 Academy Awards became the oldest person nominated for a competitive award with her documentary Faces Places, per ABC News. When she couldn't attend the Oscar nominee luncheon that year, she sent a cardboard cutout of herself instead.
Tributes poured in for Varda on Friday, with the official Twitter account for the Cannes Film Festival saying that "the place she occupied is irreplaceable. Agnès loved images, words and people. She’s one of those whose youth will never fade."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Can US tourism survive Trump's policies?
Today's Big Question The tourist economy is 'heading in the wrong direction'
-
Female friendship in middle age, teachers versus fascists and Covid psychosis
the week recommends September books include Angela Flournoy's 'The Wilderness,' Randi Weingarten's 'Why Fascists Fear Teachers' and Patricia Lockwood's 'Will There Ever Be Another You'
-
'Total rat eradication in New York has been deemed impossible'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play