S2E02 - Varda By Agnes: What is Videography?

In which we discuss Agnes Varda’s final film, Varda by Agnes, and the questions it poses about the nature of cinema: is it simply a piece of lecture videography? The swan song from one of the greatest artists of our time? Both? The fundamentals of what constitute “Videography” and “Filmmaking” are put on trial as we interrogate Varda's late work. 

In this episode, we discuss:

  • The line between ‘videography’ (digitally-filmed commercial content) and ‘filmmaking’.

  • How shall we judge a work of art when the intent is not to make an ‘art film’, but it is received as such?

  • Agnes Varda’s intensely varied career.

  • Our unrealistic and unhealthy expectations of canonical filmmakers and consistency.

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Additional Resources:

Films and video games discussed during this episode:

Varda By Agnes (2019, Agnes Varda)

The Beaches of Agnes (2008 Agnes Varda)

The Gleaners and I (2000, Agnes Varda)

Filming “Othello” (1978, Orson Welles)

Three Colours: Blue (1993, Krzysztof Kieślowski)

The Rolling Thunder Revue (2019, Martin Scorsese)