Les glaneurs et la glaneuse

Searching for gleaners who live on discarded food, Agnès Varda comes upon the most remarkable people. A bartender recalls how she used to gather the grain that was left after the harvest, as nothing should be wasted. In the same spirit, people visit winegrowers to take home the scraps that weren’t gathered during the grape picking.

A chef with a Michelin star can often be found in the hills, gathering ripe fruit and fresh herbs that he uses in his kitchen the same day. He believes we should treat food with great respect. Nevertheless, many potato growers throw away piles of spuds just because they’re too large or malformed. A number of dumpster divers find great food in the trash restaurants throw away, including a tasty drumstick to top off their meal.

Agnès Varda films them playfully and affectionately, and doesn’t mind getting sidetracked when she encounters something interesting. Her delightfully meandering approach turns the film into something of a disguised self-portrait. After all, filming is gleaning, too.