Agnès Varda in California: Black Panthers and Uncle Yanco

Black Panthers:
Varda’s short film introduced the world to the Black Panthers, their activity, and philosophies, resulting in what would become an incredible piece of film history, featuring members H. Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Eldridge Cleaver, Bill Brent, Bobby Seale, and an imprisoned Huey P. Newton, interviewed in his holding cell. This film serves as a blueprint for resistance from the forebears of the fight that continues today.

Uncle Yanco:
In her effervescent first California film, Agnès Varda delves into her own family history. The short documentary Uncle Yanco features Varda tracking down a Greek emigrant relative she’s never met, living in the ‘aquatic suburbs’ of San Francisco, and discovering a fellow artist and kindred soul leading a bohemian life on his houseboat in Sausalito.