Friday, 17/11/2000

In her press conference today in the framework of the 41st Thessaloniki Film Festival, Agnes Varda characterized documentaries as "a return to the school of simplicity and modesty".

The famous French director, who is being honored by this year's Festival with the screening of four of her films in the New Horizons program, was presented by the director of the Festival, Michel Demopoulos and the director of New Horizons, Dimitri Eipides.

"It's rather contradictory for someone to visit the festival, dine the best food, stay at the finest hotels and present a film about poor people living off their scraps". The director began her press conference with this statement, and spoke passionately about the gleaners, the people which "we don't know, although we look at them and see them", and "are intelligent people who are not ashamed of what they are".

Agnes Varda tried to "listen" to these people in her documentary The gleaners and I, while at the same time attempting to present her own traits, since as she said, "every documentary is subjective". In reference to the way she worked on her film, she said that before shooting she would converse with these people who own nothing, and film 2-3 hours for each one of them to come up with 3-4 minutes of footage. As she said, her goal was to try and "befriend" the contradictions between herself and the homeless who have their own appeal, but are viewed as "gray" and "anonymous" by society. Actually, a documentary in Agnes Varda's words means, "a movement to liberate oneself from egoism".

In reference to new technologies, the director said that she found digital video very interesting because it allows filming through its tiny screen, while at the same time preserving the dialogue and contact with the person being filmed.

She also revealed that she enjoys unique music, which is what she asked from Joanna Bruzdowicz. She picked rap as the music of disbelief and doubt.

She expressed her happiness for her film's warm reception which was played in 80 villages and is still being shown in Paris: "I would be very happy if there was a box office for the audience's love", she said.

In reply to a question about the aftermath of the documentary, Agnes Varda said that she keeps in touch with the gleaners that she filmed and tries to find ways of helping them, like the five thousand Canadian dollars she won for the film at the Montreal Festival and gave them.