Agnès Varda (Ixelles, Belgium, 1928 – Paris, France, 2019), best known as a filmmaker, began her career as a photographer for the Avignon Festival and the Théâtre National Populaire (1948-1961) before directing her first feature film, La Pointe Courte (1954), which she also wrote and produced. She documented China (1957) and Cuba (1963) with thousands of photographs. After several shorts and features, her cinema gained momentum in 1961 with Cléo from 5 to 7. In 1968, while in the United States, she filmed and photographed the Black Panthers' struggles and the counterculture movement. She won the Silver Bear for Le Bonheur (1964), the Golden Lion for Vagabond (1985), a César Award for The Beaches of Agnès (2009), and earned an Oscar nomination for Faces Places (2018). She received both an honorary Palme d'Or and an honorary Oscar for her lifetime achievement. Since 2003, she exhibited in international museums including the Fondation Cartier (France) and MoMA (USA). She had two children, Rosalie Varda (1958) and Mathieu Demy (1972).