FOOD ON FILM: THE GLEANERS AND I

Agnès Varda’s extraordinary self-reflexive documentary explores the world of modern-day gleaners: those living on the margins who survive by foraging for what society throws away.

With a digital camcorder in hand, embracing it’s intimacy and freedom, she sets out to make a documentary about the lives of gatherers, recyclers, and treasure hunters she encounters in the cities and countryside of France. Often sidetracked, Varda finds time to reflect on everything from ageing to the birth of cinema.

This warm documentary, considered to be the film that launched her renaissance, considers the many contradictions of our consumerist world as Varda finds unexpected richness where few think to look, positioning herself as a kind of gleaner one which forages images and ideas.

Food on Film is delivered in partnership with the Exeter Food: A University Research Network and the MA Food Studies