Agnès Varda and JR Tour Rural France in 'Visages Villages'

Agnès Varda and JR collaborated on the film 'Visages Villages', traveling through rural France in JR's van-studio for a week each month over a year and a half. The project, produced by MoMA and Fondation Cartier Paris, involved photographing residents of small villages and pasting large-scale portraits onto buildings. Their journey began in northern mining villages, then visited writer Nathalie Sarraute's home, a salt factory, a ghost town, photographer Guy Bourdin's house, and the cemetery where Henri Cartier-Bresson and Martine Franck are buried. They ended in Le Havre documenting dock workers. Varda attempted to meet Jean-Luc Godard, but he did not answer. The film emphasizes sharing imagination with ordinary people and intergenerational dialogue. Varda, a self-taught filmmaker and photographer, received an Honorary Oscar in 2017, the first woman to do so. JR is known for large-scale public art installations.