Details
Directed by: Agnès Varda
Country:
France
Runtime: 1hr 22min
Year: 2000
Last Screened:
Thu 2nd May 2019
Inspired by a 19th century painting of people gleaning the potatoes remaining after a harvest, Varda meets the modern-day gleaners who treasure and survive on abandoned items.
Since 1554 a French law has stated that gleaning is a civil right. From digging through the leftovers in a field, to picking up the discarded items at the end of a market day, the people Varda meets vary in their needs, backgrounds and philosophies.
Varda reflects on her own role as a gleaner – a gleaner of images and ideas – and in her move from analogue film, to digital she plays with her new medium. She doesn’t reject the accidents, and instead celebrates them in a brilliant, esoteric approach unique to her ever-imaginative and responsive filmmaking.