Presented on Wednesday at the Estação Net cinemas, the exhibition “From there to here: a Varda show” brings together 20 films, including feature and short films, by a central figure of modern cinema. Known as one of the precursors of the New Wave, filmmaker Agnès Varda has a vast production, spanning from the post-war period until 2019, the date of her death at the age of 90, and which extends from fiction to documentary and autobiography. The exhibition continues until January 21, with sessions in the Botafogo and Gávea units. On the program, classics like “Cléo das 5 à 7” and “Varda por Agnès”.
Born in Belgium in 1928 and raised in France, Agnès began her career in cinema at a time when few women were directing films. Her debut, “La pointe court” in 1955, anticipated characteristics that would later be associated with the New Wave, a movement of which she would become one of the fundamental names (and the only feminine one).
This vision was consolidated in “Cléo das 5 à 7”, seven years later, and continued to develop in films that gave the main place to women, desire and autonomy, such as “One sings, the other does not”, placed in the context of the feminist movement.
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_da025474c0c44edd99332dddb09cabe8/internal_photos/bs/2026/i/P/gQUyftTGyUj2dO239CMQ/frwef60nkbjn29yfoupajjqa1tui2y-original.jpg)
The filmmaker’s CV also highlights documentaries, where she found an even more direct form of dialogue with the world, in titles such as “The Collectors and Me”, “As Praias de Agnès” and “Varda por Agnès”, which she completed months before her death in 2019.
Companion of filmmaker Jacques Demy for nearly three decades, Agnès defended independent cinema and free creation throughout her career. She received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2017.
Discover some must-see films from the exhibition below:
A humanist look at those who live off what society gets rid of, mixing social observation and introspection. (Botafogo: Thursday, 2:50 p.m. Gávea: Friday, 3:10 p.m.).
One of Varda’s most iconic films, it follows two hours in the life of a singer awaiting the results of a medical exam, in a sensitive portrait of female anxiety and identity. (Botafogo: Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 1:15 p.m. Gávea: Friday, 9:00 p.m.; Sunday, 2:55 p.m.).
The Two Faces of Happiness (1965)
Drama with an ironic tone that dismantles the idea of marital harmony by following a man who believes it is possible to love two women without consequences. (Botafogo: Thursday, 1 p.m.; Saturday, 3:05 p.m. Gávea: Friday, 5:10 p.m.; Sunday, 1:05 p.m.).
One sings, the other doesn’t (1977)
The friendship of two women over the course of a decade serves as a common thread to discuss motherhood, abortion and feminist activism. (Botafogo: Thursday, 6:40 p.m. Gávea: Saturday, 9 p.m.).
The director’s debut and work often considered a precursor to the New Wave, it follows a couple in crisis who return to a fishing village in the south of France. (Gávea: Thursday, 1 p.m.; Sun., 4:45 p.m. Botafogo: Fri., 6:55 p.m.).
Documentary that examines Los Angeles murals as an artistic and political expression of the city’s cultural diversity. (Gávea: Thursday, 4:55 p.m. Botafogo: Friday, 2:55 p.m.).
The beaches of Agnès (2008)
Playful and fragmented autobiography in which Varda revisits memories, films and affections at the age of 80. (Gávea: Thu., 9 p.m.; Sun., 6:50 p.m. Botafogo: Sat., 9 p.m.).
Winner of the Golden Lion in Venice, he reconstructs the trajectory of a young vagabond found dead during the French winter, in one of the director’s harshest films. (Botafogo: Thu at 9 p.m.; Sat: 4:55 p.m. Gávea: Friday at 1 p.m. Sun: at 11 a.m.).
In her last film, which she completed at the age of 90, a few months before her death, Agnès saves her own life and reflects on cinema and its creative process, during the 64 years devoted to the seventh art. (Botafogo: Tue (13), at 4:30 p.m.).
In partnership with the artist JR, the filmmaker travels the French countryside in search of faces, stories and images, in a film imbued with lightness and complicity. (Botafogo: Friday, 1 p.m.; Sunday: 7:10 p.m. Gávea: Saturday, 7:05 p.m.).
“From here to here: a Varda exhibition”. Or? Botafogo and Gávea Net Station. When? From Wednesday to January 21. As? ITickets via the Ticket.com platform. See the full program on the website.
About The Author
