Vagabond

Director: Agnès Varda 
Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Macha Méril, Stéphane Freiss, Yolande Moreau 
France, 1985, 102’, DCP, color 
French with Turkish subtitles 

Awarded three prizes at the Venice Film Festival, including the Golden Lion, this Agnès Varda classic opens with Mona Bergeron's dead body found frozen in a deserted vineyard. From there, the story unfolds in reverse, retracing the final days of a woman who lived on the fringes of society—a rootless, fiercely independent drifter fighting for survival.  

Mona has abandoned her past, her family, and society’s-imposed way of life, embracing absolute freedom. Yet, her idea of freedom is inextricably tied to a relentless struggle for existence. Drifting through the rural landscapes of France, she encounters a variety of people along the way—a philosophy professor, farmers, migrant workers, bourgeois elites, hippies—each interaction offering a different perspective but never a true sense of belonging.  

Her relationships are fleeting; she is met with compassion, indifference, and sometimes outright cruelty. With Varda’s signature blend of documentary aesthetics and poetic storytelling, Vagabond is a deeply moving meditation on freedom, alienation, and the sharp solitude of a life without roots.