“A moving summation of her life’s work.”
Screened in tribute to Agnès Varda (1928-2019)
Agnès Varda's first foray into documentary making using a digital handheld camera is the perfect showcase for her humility, charm and abiding interest in humanity.
A film about finding value where others see nothing, this beautiful and eccentric work is the result of Varda spending a year touring France to find and talk to the people who forage and salvage what is disposed of by others. Ranging from those who salvage to survive, to artists, activists and workers who use scavenged goods, the film ably examines class and culture, and finds time to reflect upon the nature of cinema and mortality, too.
A contemporary poem about waste and overconsumption. "Glaner": glean, to collect the grains leftover after harvesting. Across France, Agnès Varda has been meeting the "gleaners" of the 21st century. Out of need or choice, they collect up what other people no longer want: wonky vegetables, items needing mending, unsold supermarket goods...