Agnès Varda: People, Politics & Care
Tue 20 Oct
|The Bluecoat
Using Black Panthers, we look at how a political portrait can hold a clear point of view while giving the person on screen room to speak for themselves.
Time & Location
20 Oct 2026, 17:00 – 20:00
The Bluecoat, School Ln, Liverpool L1 3BX, UK
About the event
In Black Panthers, Agnès Varda filmed the Free Huey rally and the people who gathered there. When Kathleen Cleaver speaks about natural hair, Black beauty and women in the movement, the film gives her time to develop the argument in her own words. Varda shapes the encounter, but she does not speak in Cleaver’s place.
For the third session of our Agnès Varda month, Sammy Holden will use selected extracts from the film to examine how a political portrait is built. We will consider the length of time somebody is given to speak, the images placed around their words and the choices a filmmaker makes about what to include.
Working in small groups, we will design a short portrait around an imagined or composite person. Each group will develop three open questions and plan five images, while the person at the centre will be able to redirect a question, choose…
Tickets
General Admission
£8.00
VAT included
+£0.20 ticket service fee
Total
£0.00