The Gleaners and I (2000)

France | 80 min. | 35mm | Dir. Agnes Varda Agnès Varda, Grande Dame of the French New Wave and upcoming Honorary Oscar recipient, made 2000's most acclaimed non-fiction film-a self-described "wandering-road documentary." Beginning with the famous Jean-François Millet painting of women gathering wheat left over from a harvest, she 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.   "Ms. Varda, their patient interlocutor, also sees herself as a gleaner in her own right. She plucks images and stories from the world around her, finding beauty and nourishment in lives and activities the world prefers to ignore. She is a constant, funny presence in the film, providing piquant voice-over narration and allowing herself visual and verbal digressions on the state of her aging hands, the water damage on her ceiling and her portable camera's dancing lens cap." -A.O. Scott (New York Times) Watch the trailer: http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-gleaners-i/trailers/1083184 This event is intended for UW-Madison students, faculty, staff and Union members and guests.