Agnès Varda

Known for: Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962); founding figure of the French New Wave

Agnès Varda began the French New Wave ahead of her male contemporaries with La Pointe Courte (1955), a structurally experimental fiction film made independently in a fishing village. She continued making films across seven decades, moving toward documentary, installation, and self-portrait with a formal invention and warmth that distinguished her from any movement or school. She received an honorary Academy Award in 2017.