I'm so glad you posted the story about walking into that "video store", Dominic, I remember hearing you tell it elsewhere (BAMPFA?) and am glad to see it "in print".
On Mon, Apr 1, 2019 at 12:29 PM Dominic Angerame <[email protected]> wrote: > I am so glad that I had the chance to meet and talk with Agnes Varda > during my lifetime. The first time I met her was when she presented > “Vagabond" at the World Theatre in Chinatown, San Francisco, located > around the corner from my apartment. It was presented as part of a tribute > by the San Francisco International Film Festival and the film was being > premiered. I approached her after the screening in my role of Executive > Director for Canyon Cinema. I wanted to have Canyon distribute her prints > since they seemed almost impossible to locate for rental at that time. She > refused because she wanted Canyon Cinema to pay for the prints. Alas Canyon > had no policy or funds to purchase prints for distribution. As such an > opportunity to distribute her films disappeared. > > The second time I met her was in Paris. My film "In the Course of Human > Events" was being shown as part of an art show curated by Paul Virilio > called "Ce Que Arrive". The exhibition focused on artwork and films that > dealt with disasters. Since my film " In the Course of Human Events” > centered around images of the destruction of a freeway that was damaged by > the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. . Also as part of the exhibition was > Bruce Conner’s “Crossroads" and "Boston Fire" by Peter Hutton and other > experimental filmmakers. The salon called Cafe de Penquin is located on Rue > Deguerre. This cafe was a meeting place where Paul Virilio would host the > filmmakers and curator of “Ce Qui Arrive” for lunch and conversation. I > had with Paul Virilio in French about the role of artists in today’s > society. Virilio mentioned that the artists were the first victims in > society. After lunch and coffee I took a walk down the avenue to explore. > Rue Deguerre was located at the back end of the Montparnasse Cemetery and > quite unique and scenic. > > I walked past a store front that had its windows entirely covered with > posters of Agnes Vardas’ films. At first I thought it was a video store. I > walked in and there was Agnes Varda sitting behind a flatbat editor with > one of her assistants. I had actually walked into Varda’s studio, it was > not a video store.After I enter she walked over to the door and locked it. > She remembered my original meeting with her here in San Francisco. She then > invited me to a screening room in the back of the large studio. She told me > to sit down an then Agnes ask if I would like to view her new film, a > sequel to The Gleaners and I. down She excused herself and came back with > a bottle of wine for me to enjoy as I watched the film. The film was great > and after the the private screening I left and thank her profusely for her > kindness. > > The other time I had the chance to meet Agnes Varda was at the Viennale > Film Festival in Austria where I was honored to have a complete > retrospective of every film I had made. Once more she was smiling, > talkative and I reminded her of our previous meeting. She had remembered > that incident with fondness and was impressed on my boldness of entering > her private studio. > > Dominic Angerame > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >
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