She is a revered octogenarian filmmaker, he is a brash young star in the art world, but these seemingly dissimilar artists come together to create something wholly beautiful in the magnificent and universally acclaimed Faces Places DVD.
Agnès Varda, one of the leading figures of the French New Wave who at 89 is still expanding cinematic frontiers, and the acclaimed 34-year-old French photographer and muralist known as JR team up to co-direct an enchanting documentary/road movie. Kindred spirits, Varda and JR share a lifelong passion for images and how they are created, displayed and shared. In Faces Places, they travel in JR’s photo truck to French villages, factories, docks, farms and anywhere else their spirits take them, meeting locals, learning their stories and producing epic-size portraits of them. The photos are then prominently displayed on houses, barns, storefronts and trains, revealing the humanity in their subjects as well as in Varda and JR themselves. Faces Places documents these heart-warming encounters, as well as the unlikely, tender friendship formed along the way by the two artists.
The film, produced by Rosalie Varda, the director’s daughter, and CMG Chairman and CEO Charles S. Cohen, won the Most Popular International Documentary award at the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival. It was just nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Faces Places has garnered universal praise – and a remarkable “100% Fresh” rating at the film review site Rotten Tomatoes. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe cheered, “Anyone who can’t enjoy this wise and soulful film has to consider whether they’ve given up on the movies, and on life.” Adam Graham of The Detroit News concurred, calling it “a lively, fun, stirring tribute to art and its ability to touch people and bring souls together.” Faces Places is truly a joyous documentary, and qualifies as a must-see for any lover of cinema,” said Christopher Schobert of The Buffalo News. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post called it “a film of sheer joy, its exuberance surpassed only by its tenderness and purity of purpose.”
Faces Places Blu-Ray-$30.99
Faces Places DVD-$25.99
