Agnes Varda, Oscar-winning filmmaker of the French New Wave, passes away at 90

Filmmaker Agnes Varda, a central figure of the French New Wave who later won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, passes away at the age of 90. “The filmmaker and artist Agnès Varda died from cancer at her home in the night of 29 March, 2019, surrounded by her family and friends,” the family’s statement said, describing her as a “joyful feminist” and “passionate artist.” [caption id=“attachment_6353371” align=“alignnone” width=“820”] Agnes Varda. Source: Twitter[/caption] Last month, the diminutive director presented her latest film, Varda by Agnès, at the Berlin Film Festival and received the honorary Berlinale Camera award. She had films in competition at the festival four times and won the Grand Jury Prize in 1965 with Le Bonheur. Her films were uniquely structured. La Pointe Courte (1955), her directorial debut, contained double narration; Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962) took place in virtual real time; Vagabond (1985) was made up of 13 tracking shots; and Jane B. par Agnes V. (1988) was a portrait with deliberately missing pieces, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Across generations and publications, Varda was referred to as either the “mother,” “godmother” or “grandmother” of the French New Wave. Varda was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2017, the first female director to receive the accolade. In 1962, Varda married famed French director Jacques Demy and they had a son, Mathieu. Both of her children worked for the family company Cine-Tamaris, which distributed Varda and Demy films. Her production company confirmed her death on Friday after French media first reported the news. (With inputs from Associated Press)