Agnes Varda, Feminism, and The New Wave

FAIN: FA-55298-10

Rebecca Jeanne DeRoo, PhD
Washington University (St. Louis, MO 63130-4862)

Agnes Varda, Feminism, and the New Wave provides the first comprehensive historical study of one of the most celebrated female filmmakers of the twentieth century, Agnes Varda. It uses her complex career as a lens to create an innovative, interdisciplinary history of the New Wave film movement, appealing to audiences across the fields of film, art history, gender studies, and cultural studies. This book is particularly timely given the recent release of Varda's collected films on DVD. This book makes available previously unpublished material, including new translations, documentation of films, and original interviews with filmmakers, critics, and theorists who shaped the trajectory of contemporary cinematic practice. Two chapters and a prospectus are currently under review for a book contract. With a twelve-month NEH fellowship for 2010-11, I will complete a draft of the entire manuscript. The full manuscript will be submitted to the publisher during the 2011-12 academic year.

Media Coverage

Shortlisted for Kraszna-Krausz Book Prize; announced at Royal Society of Arts; book displayed at Photo London (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Will Carleton
Publication: Photo Archive News
Date: 4/27/2018
Abstract: Presents Kraszna-Krausz Book Award Shortlists in the Fields of Photography and Moving Image (Cinema and Media Studies). Describes: "Recognised as the UK’s leading prize for books on Photography and the Moving Image, the Kraszna-Krausz Foundation awards celebrate those that have made an original and lasting contribution to their field."
URL: https://photoarchivenews.com/news/shortlist-announced-best-photography-book-award/

Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art (book review) (Review)
Author(s):
Publication: ASAP Journal
Date: 9/27/2017
Abstract: Book review in journal of ASAP (Association for the Study of Arts of the Present).
URL: https://asapjournal.com/agnes-varda-between-film-photography-and-art-brittany-murray/

Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art by Rebecca J. DeRoo (Review)
Author(s):
Publication: Women in French Studies
Date: 1/5/2018
Abstract: Book review.
URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/709585/pdf

Agnès Varda and Xavier Dolan – between politics, the art house and popular culture (Review)
Author(s): Jenny Chamarette
Publication: French Screen Studies
Date: 9/28/2021
Abstract: Book Review of Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art
URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26438941.2021.1948172

Interviewed on NPR Weekend Edition (national radio and website); also aired on WBUR (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Neda Ulaby
Publication: National Public Radio, NPR also WBUR
Date: 3/1/2018
Abstract: Interviewed by Neda Ulaby regarding Agnes Varda's Oscar nomination. Aired on NPR national weekend edition and transcript available on NPR website. Also appeared on WBUR.
URL: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/588830916

Associated Products

Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art (Book)
Title: Agnes Varda between Film, Photography, and Art
Author: Rebecca J. DeRoo
Abstract: Agnès Varda is a prolific film director, photographer, and artist whose cinematic career spans more than six decades. Today she is best known as the innovative “mother” of the French New Wave film movement of the 1950s and '60s and for her multimedia art exhibitions. Varying her use of different media, she is a figure who defies easy categorization. In this extensively researched book, Rebecca J. DeRoo demonstrates how Varda draws upon the histories of art, photography, and film to complicate the overt narratives in her works and to advance contemporary cultural politics. Based on interviews with Varda and unparalleled access to Varda's archives, this interdisciplinary study constructs new frameworks for understanding one of the most versatile talents in twentieth and twenty-first century culture.
Year: 2017
Primary URL: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520279414/agnes-varda-between-film-photography-and-art#reviews
Primary URL Description: University of California Press Website
Access Model: Hardbound, paperback, and e-book editions; subscription only.
Publisher: University of California Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 0520279417
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

Prizes

Kraszna-Krausz Book Award Shortlist
Date: 5/17/2018
Organization: Kraszna-Krausz Foundation
Abstract: One of three international finalists shortlisted for Best Book in the field of Moving Image (Cinema and Media Studies).

Agnes Varda's Daguerreotypes (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Agnes Varda's Daguerreotypes
Abstract: Presented Agnes Varda's Daguerreotypes with film screening.
Author: Rebecca J. DeRoo
Date: 11/08/2019
Location: Cleveland Cinematheque
Primary URL: https://www.cia.edu/cinematheque/film-schedule/2019/11/daguerrotypes
Primary URL Description: Cleveland Cinematheque Website

Agnes Varda's Daguerreotypes (film screening and discussion) (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Agnes Varda's Daguerreotypes (film screening and discussion)
Abstract: Online screening and discussion of Agnes Varda's film Daguerreotypes as part of the Cinetopia Film Festival.
Author: Rebecca J. DeRoo
Date: 08/23/2020
Location: Held online; based in Edinburgh UK
Primary URL: https://cinetopiashow.com/docclub
Primary URL Description: Cinetopia Website announcing event and screening

Documenting and Displaying Widowhood: Agnès Varda’s Multimedia Exhibition L’ile et elle (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Documenting and Displaying Widowhood: Agnès Varda’s Multimedia Exhibition L’ile et elle
Author: Rebecca J. DeRoo
Abstract: Conference Presentation at the University of Cambridge, UK, analyzing the use of visual media in Agnes Varda's exhibition, L'ile et elle. Part of Conference, Film, A Plastic Art.
Date: 09/30/2016
Primary URL: http://www.filmandarts-network.hss.ed.ac.uk/events/workshop-2/
Primary URL Description: Conference website.

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