"The Gleaners and I"

Directed by: Agnès Varda
When: 2 pm Sunday, March 21, 2004
Where: HCC Ybor Performing Arts Theater

Beginning with the famous Jean-Francois Millet painting of women gathering wheat left over from a harvest, Varda focuses her ever-seeking eye on gleaners: those who scour already-reaped fields for the odd potato or turnip.

Her investigation leads us from forgotten corners of the French countryside to off-hours at the green markets of Paris, following those who insist on finding a use for that which society has cast off, whether out of necessity or activism.

From the Director:

"This film is a documentary woven from various strands: from emotions I felt when confronted with precariousness; from the possibilities offered by the new small digital cameras; and from the desire to film what I can see of myself-my aging hands and my grey hair. I also wanted to express my love for painting. I had to piece it together and make sense out of it all in the film, without betraying the social issue that I had set out to address-waste and trash: who finds a use for it? how? can one live on the leftovers of others?"

"Films always originate in emotions. This time it was that of seeing so many people combing the market place or rummaging through supermarket trash containers for leftovers. Seeing them made me want to film them and specifically that which cannot be filmed without their consent. How can one testify for them and yet not hinder them?"

"During the wheat harvest in the summer of 1999, I saw on TV a farmer sitting on top of his combine harvester. He was explaining that if the machine was badly adjusted, and left one grain on each stalk, he would end up loosing a staggering amount of wheat and an equally staggering amount of money."

"This grain on a stalk struck me. It reminded me of gleaning in the old days, a rural custom which has now disappeared (for obvious reasons), and of the paintings of woman gleaning. I also wanted to roam around. To meet people. To seek them out."

"Rather than a 'road movie', I would say a 'wandering-road-documentary'."

"I first had to investigate the rural world (gleaning and picking), and then the urban world (salvaging), and I permitted myself only digressions indirectly related to the topic."

"This is why this film includes a winegrower who descends from the extraordinary Etienne-Jules Marey; the owner of a vintage wines who is also a psychotherapist; the anecdote of a couple who run a cafe; and a class for illiterate adults."

"I wanted to glean images as one jots down travel notes, and feel free to show a funny dog I met on the way (why is it wearing a red boxing glove around its neck?). Or the Dard overflowing. Free to linger over a painting by Van der Weyden. To observe couples. But always coming back to the gleaners, trying to win their confidence, listen to them, converse with them rather than interview them, and film them."

"My intention became clearer to myself throughout the shooting and editing stages. Little by little, I found the right balance between self-referential moments (the gleaner who films one of her hands with the other) and moments focused on those whose reality and behavior I found so striking. I managed to approach them, to bring them out of their anonymity. I discovered their generosity. There are many ways of being poor, having common sense, anger or humor."

"The people I have filmed tell us a great deal about our society and ourselves. I myself learned a lot as I was shooting this film."

"It confirmed my idea that documentaries are a discipline that teaches modesty."