Cannes: Agnès Varda, first female director to be honored with a Palme d'Honneur
The Frenchwoman is to receive a Palme d'Honneur, an honorary Palme d'Or, in recognition of an illustrious career that began in the 1950s. Agnès Varda, one of the rare female directors from the French New Wave, will be the first female filmmaker to receive this distinction at the Cannes Film Festival.
Limited until now to four directors (Woody Allen, Manoel de Oliveira, Clint Eastwood and Bernardo Bertolucci), the Palme d'Honneur will for the first time be awarded to a woman. A decision made by the directors of the festival and not by its jury, this award is meant to recognize a great artist's body of work.
Agnès Varda's career began in the 1950s with the release of her first feature film, "La Pointe Courte" (1954), with Philippe Noiret and Silvia Monfort starring and Alain Resnais editing. From the time of her first cinematic work, the Belgium native succeeded in bringing a breath of fresh air into French cinema, which is why she is so closely linked to the New Wave.
Over the course of a 60-year career, Jacques Demy's widow was never awarded a Palme d'Or, though her "Cleo from 5 to 7" was selected to compete in 1962. And yet, Agnès Varda is often referred to as an icon in the world of the 7th art, especially by the present generation, Lena Dunham of "Girls" fame in particular.
The legendary director will receive her award, the equivalent of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures, six days shy of her 87th birthday. Her most recent cinematic contribution dates back to 2008, and one year later, "The Beaches of Agnès" took home the César, the French equivalent of the Oscar, for Best Documentary.
