Vagabond

A young drifter is found dead in a ditch in the French countryside. Through flashback we learn of this fierce, independent young woman’s journey and her eventual demise.

Mona (Sandrine Bonnaire), a free-spirited drifter, is found dead in a ditch along the French countryside. In flashback we learn of the events leading up to her death.

We follow Mona as she meets various people across the countryside, offering her work, a place to sleep and companionship. Through a series of interviews of the people she crosses paths with, we learn of this defiant, resourceful woman who chooses freedom over comfort and pays the ultimate price for pursuing her desire to be free.

Curator’s note
Director Agnès Varda brings her keen eye for documentary in this arresting and powerful narrative feature. Featuring a cast that blends non-actors with the incredible Sandrine Bonnaire, who won a Best Actress César for her portrayal of a woman who refuses to play by society's rules. Although at first glance the subject matter might seem bleak, Varda creates a poetic, empathetic and freewheeling portrait that refuses to judge and rightly won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Bonnaire's enigmatic portrait feels like a perfect companion piece to Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar (played by Samantha Morton), whose titular character’s inexplicable behaviour reveals an intoxicating hunger for life and liberation.