Agnes Varda

French director Agnes Varda at 61 is very much the same woman she was more than 20 years ago when she first came to Hollywood. She herself admits to no great sense of time passing, except in the maturing of her children, Mathieu, who co-stars in her new film, "Kung Fu Master!" and is now going on 17, and Rosalie, 31, who designs costumes for the opera. Varda is short, compact, dresses simply and speaks with the wit and the matter-of-factness of her films, which include "Cleo from Five to Seven," an early work in France's New Wave, and the more recent "One Sings, the Other Doesn't" and "Vagabond."

Agnes Varda has been directing films for 55 years. So it's no wonder she even directs an interview. "Well, what about you?" asks the award-winning French filmmaker, a youthful 81. "Are you a critic or a reviewer? Do you know who is reviewing the film? I do interviews. "So you do the 'hello, hello,' " she says.

The On Set With French Cinema series concludes Wednesday at the American Cinematheque with the screening of Agnes Varda's "Jacquot de Nantes" (1991), plus her latest short film, "Le Lion Volatil," a playful Surrealist postcard of her own Paris neighborhood dominated by an enormous bronze lion, around which magical events happen. Julie Depardieu and Varda herself appear in the film. A question-and-answer session with Varda follows.

The third annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, which opens tonight and continues through Sunday at the Egyptian Theatre, includes seven features, seven documentaries and eight shorts -- with 15 of the films making their U.S. premieres. The festival kicks off this evening with Christos Georgiou's "Small Crime."

The American Cinematheque's "The Light in Her Eyes: A Tribute to Agnes Varda" commences tonight at Raleigh Studios with the local premiere of the French New Wave pioneer's "One Hundred and One Nights," a poignant, witty salute to the 100th anniversary of the movies. It's a film buff's delight, crammed with references, clips from old films and appearances by hallowed international stars.

The third annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, which opens tonight and continues through Sunday at the Egyptian Theatre, includes seven features, seven documentaries and eight shorts -- with 15 of the films making their U.S. premieres. The festival kicks off this evening with Christos Georgiou's "Small Crime."

ON a brief recent visit Agnes Varda arranged for a private screening at the American Cinematheque of "The Gleaners and I ... Two Years Later," the 65-minute sequel to her 2000 landmark documentary. "The Gleaners and I" is a beautiful, contemplative and remarkably resonant film in which Varda traveled over the French countryside to see if gleaning -- the ancient custom of allowing the poor to comb the fields for leftover grains, fruits and vegetables after a harvest -- still persisted.

Agnes Varda would probably agree with Jean Renoir's remark that, in making a film, he discovered its meaning as he went along.

Agnes Varda was in high spirits when she arrived at Musso & Frank's in Hollywood for a dinner interview last month before the American Cinematheque's sneak preview at the Egyptian of "The Gleaners and I." The film is a beautiful, contemplative and remarkably resonant documentary that has been hailed as a high point in a rich and varied career.

Agnes Varda has been directing films for 55 years. So it's no wonder she even directs an interview. "Well, what about you?" asks the award-winning French filmmaker, a youthful 81. "Are you a critic or a reviewer? Do you know who is reviewing the film? I do interviews. "So you do the 'hello, hello,' " she says.

AGNES VARDA is often called the mother of the French New Wave, the loose collective of filmmakers who galvanized international cinema in the '60s and whose ranks included Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Alain Resnais, Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol and Varda's late husband, Jacques Demy. Not only was Varda a virtually lone female voice in this boys' club, her emergence actually predated theirs by several years.

The On Set With French Cinema series concludes Wednesday at the American Cinematheque with the screening of Agnes Varda's "Jacquot de Nantes" (1991), plus her latest short film, "Le Lion Volatil," a playful Surrealist postcard of her own Paris neighborhood dominated by an enormous bronze lion, around which magical events happen. Julie Depardieu and Varda herself appear in the film. A question-and-answer session with Varda follows.

ON a brief recent visit Agnes Varda arranged for a private screening at the American Cinematheque of "The Gleaners and I ... Two Years Later," the 65-minute sequel to her 2000 landmark documentary. "The Gleaners and I" is a beautiful, contemplative and remarkably resonant film in which Varda traveled over the French countryside to see if gleaning -- the ancient custom of allowing the poor to comb the fields for leftover grains, fruits and vegetables after a harvest -- still persisted.

Agnes Varda would probably agree with Jean Renoir's remark that, in making a film, he discovered its meaning as he went along.

Agnes Varda was in high spirits when she arrived at Musso & Frank's in Hollywood for a dinner interview last month before the American Cinematheque's sneak preview at the Egyptian of "The Gleaners and I." The film is a beautiful, contemplative and remarkably resonant documentary that has been hailed as a high point in a rich and varied career.

Director Agnes Varda, in town for her American Cinematheque retrospective this month, is glad to be back in the city she loves and in which she once lived for a time with her late husband, director Jacques Demy, and in which she has made five films. "Maybe it's because Los Angeles is related to happy years," said Varda, who is sometimes described as the mother of France's New Wave. "Jacques was invited here in 1967 by Columbia.

Director Agnes Varda, in town for her American Cinematheque retrospective this month, is glad to be back in the city she loves and in which she once lived for a time with her late husband, director Jacques Demy, and in which she has made five films. "Maybe it's because Los Angeles is related to happy years," said Varda, who is sometimes described as the mother of France's New Wave. "Jacques was invited here in 1967 by Columbia.

Near the beginning of "Jacquot" (at the Music Hall), Agnes Varda's enchanting tribute to her late husband, director Jacques Demy, Varda tells us that Demy's "childhood was his treasure and the source of inspiration for his films." She aptly describes her film as "an evocation"--a biography of Demy's early years in Nantes in Western France on the Loire River.

The American Cinematheque's "The Light in Her Eyes: A Tribute to Agnes Varda" commences tonight at Raleigh Studios with the local premiere of the French New Wave pioneer's "One Hundred and One Nights," a poignant, witty salute to the 100th anniversary of the movies. It's a film buff's delight, crammed with references, clips from old films and appearances by hallowed international stars.

Near the beginning of "Jacquot" (at the Music Hall), Agnes Varda's enchanting tribute to her late husband, director Jacques Demy, Varda tells us that Demy's "childhood was his treasure and the source of inspiration for his films." She aptly describes her film as "an evocation"--a biography of Demy's early years in Nantes in Western France on the Loire River.