Agnès Varda: Pioneer of French New Wave and Indie Cinema

Agnès Varda, a French filmmaker who blended documentary realism with poetic narrative to redefine cinema. Also known as the grandmother of the French New Wave, she didn’t wait for permission—she picked up a camera, walked the streets of Paris, and made films that changed how we see ordinary lives. She wasn’t just a director. She was a storyteller who turned laundry on a line into a metaphor for time, who filmed her own aging face with the same honesty she gave to factory workers, and who proved that a movie doesn’t need a big budget to have a big heart.

Agnès Varda’s work connects directly to the kind of films celebrated here at Scruffy City Film Fest: bold, personal, and unafraid to be strange. Her films like Cleo from 5 to 7 and Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse didn’t follow Hollywood rules—they followed curiosity. She made documentary filmmaking, a form that captures real people and moments without scripted lies feel intimate, even magical. She didn’t just film people; she listened to them. And she let their voices shape the story. That’s the same spirit you’ll find in the indie films we showcase—films where the story comes from truth, not formulas.

Her influence runs through modern cinema like a hidden thread. You can see her in the quiet observations of Kelly Reichardt, in the personal documentaries of Joanna Hogg, and in the way today’s filmmakers treat their subjects not as characters but as humans. She didn’t just make films about women—she made films from women’s perspectives, without apology. That’s why she’s still talked about, still studied, still watched. She didn’t chase trends. She created them.

Below, you’ll find posts that explore the same kind of cinema she championed: stories that feel real, visuals that speak louder than dialogue, and filmmakers who refuse to play it safe. Whether it’s how sound shapes emotion, how women lead rom-coms now, or how directors build worlds with nothing but light and texture—these are the ideas Agnès Varda helped make possible. She didn’t need a studio. She just needed a lens, a story, and the guts to tell it.