THE GLEANERS AND I
(LES GLANEURS ET LA GLANEUSE)
2000, 82′
Original French version with Italian subtitles
Director: Agnès Varda
Screenplay: Agnès Varda
Cast: Bodan Litnanski, Agnès Varda, François Wertheimer
Country: France
Distribution: Mk2 Films
In this documentary film, Agnès Varda travels through the French countryside and cities on the lookout for gleaners and people who search for food or discarded objects. She investigates different aspects and the reasons of the art of living from the leftovers of others. At the same time, Varda explores contemporary art made from found materials, such as the work of Louis Pons, who describes waste as a “cluster of possibilities.” To find characters to appear in the film, Varda asked everyone she knew to talk to anyone—farmers, landowners, fruit growers—to involve them in the topic of the film, their way of life.