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Curator Anna Masecchia
Guest director Susanna Nicchiarelli
Villa Medici presents an exceptional film program to coincide with the exhibition Agnès Varda, Here and there, Paris-Rome.
CINE VARDA is presented at Villa Medici over three dates, bringing together Italian curators and specialists, and guest directors.
CINE VARDA
The third and final event will focus on the fundamentally political dimension of the private, as a physical space, a social sphere and a metaphor for the intimate. It is organized by director Susanna Nicchiarelli and Anna Masecchia, professor of cinema and Agnès Varda specialist.
All day long, from 10 a.m., the Citerne space is activated by rare films, shorts and boni by Varda. For the occasion, Anna Masecchia has chosen to highlight the short films Ulysse (1983), Le Lion volatil (2003), and 7 P., cuis., s. de b., … à saisir (1984), as well as the archive document Agnès Varda et la famille.
At 6:00 pm, the film Le Bonheur (1965) will be presented by Anna Masecchia. This film is a ritornello that gradually lets trouble slip away; a magnificent, magnified critique of family happiness.
To close this final evening of the CINE VARDA cycle, Susanna Nicchiarelli will present the film Jacquot de Nantes (1991), a tender, free-spirited retelling of Jacques Demy’s childhood and his love of cinema. The screening will be preceded by a discussion with Anna Masecchia, and followed by an exchange with the audience.
10am-6pm: Cycle of screenings of rare films and shorts by Agnès Varda in the exhibition
6pm: Le Bonheur, Agnès Varda, 1965, 80′
Presented by Anna Masecchia
8.30pm: Jacquot de Nantes, Agnès Varda, 1991, 118′
Presented by Susanna Nicchiarelli a in discussion with Anna Masecchia
CINÉ VARDA PROGRAM
Thursday, April 2, 2026
Curator: Elvira del Guercio
Guest director: Céline Sciamma
Monday, April 27, 2026
Curator: Daniela Persico
Guest director: Adele Tulli
Monday, May 18, 2026
Curator: Anna Masecchia
Guest director: Susanna Nicchiarelli
Over three days and three evenings, three Italian experts and three women directors present films, documentaries, bonus features and shorts by Agnès Varda, in dialogue with films by contemporary women filmmakers.
As presented in the exhibition Agnès Varda, Here and there, Paris-Rome exhibition at Villa Medici, Agnès Varda’s life and work both provoke and maintain correspondences with Italy and Italian cinema. From her film project in Venice , La Mélangite (or Les Amours de Valentin), to her reportage on the strange forms of Villa della Torre, near Verona, to her photographs of great filmmakers such as Visconti and Fellini, Varda is linked to the Italian cultural scene.
Contemporary cinema, its women directors and theorists are all part of the legacy of the woman who changed the face of fiction and documentary cinema, and of stories from a woman’s point of view.
Over three days of screenings, encounters and conversations, Villa Medici presents a selection of films by Agnès Varda, as well as works in dialogue with her work, to shed light on their contemporary resonances and extensions in today’s cinema.
Born in Rome, she holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. In 2004, she obtained a diploma in directing from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. After directing several short films and documentaries, she signed her first feature film, Cosmonauta, in 2009. This was followed by La scoperta dell’alba (2013), Nico, 1988 (2017), Miss Marx (2020) and Chiara (2022). In 2023, she collaborated on the screenplay for Marco Bellocchio’s Rapito. Her most recent work, the six-part mini-series Fuochi d’Artificio, which she wrote and directed, was broadcast on Rai Uno in April 2025, to mark the eightieth anniversary of the Liberation.
Anna Masecchia
Anna Masecchia, a passionate cinephile, teaches cinema at the University of Florence, where she heads the Master’s program in Performing Arts. Insatiably curious, she explores various fields of research, adopting a transdisciplinary and intermedial approach which, starting from the object, widens her gaze to the context, taking an interest in interactions, counter-interactions and cross-fertilizations. Her main areas of interest are the relationship between cinema and the other arts, stardom and the female gaze. In addition to numerous articles, his monographs include: I Remember While I Live. Agnès Varda (Electa, 2026); Les Plages d’Agnès (Carocci, 2024); Vittorio De Sica. Storia di unattore (Kaplan, 2012); Al cinema con Proust (Marsilio, 2009). She co-created and co-edited...
7 P., CUIS., S. DE B., … UP FOR GRABS (1984)
7 P., CUIS., S. DE B., … UP FOR GRABS (1984)
Le lion volatil (2003)
Jacquot de Nantes (1990)
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Monday, May 18 – 6pm-10:30pm
18h – 20h Screening Le Bonheur
20h30 – 22h30 Screening Jacquot de Nantes
Presented by director Susanna Nicchiarelli and programmer Anna Masecchia
Film in French ST Italian
3€ per session
6€ for the whole evening
Free for SOLO DUO and TRIBU cardholders
The ticket also gives access to the Agnès Varda exhibition , Here and there, Paris-Rome.
Tickets for the 6pm session: reservation
Tickets for the 8:30pm session: reservation
Agnès Varda
25.02 - 25.05.2026
- Curators :
- Anne de Mondenard
- Carole Sandrin
