The Beaches of Agnes

Agn?s Varda has been one of the most distinct voices in French cinema since making her directorial debut with La Pointe Courte in 1954, and she offers a singular look back at her life and career in this autobiographical documentary. Most of Les Plages d'Agn?s (aka The Beaches of Agn?s) takes place on the seashores of France and Belgium, where she shares memories with her friends and family, looks at her photos and clips from her films, reenacts moments from her past with the help of her crew and a handful of nonprofessional actors, and examines both her successes and failures, often using visual metaphors to illustrate her attitudes about her past (mirrors to reflect what goes on around her, a small house literally built from a print of one of her movies). The Beaches of Agn?s received its North American premiere when it was screened as an official entry at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.