All of Life: Voices Through Time + Uncle Yanco
Next Friday, December 27th we’ll be screening Voices Through Time (1996) by Franco Piavoli and Uncle Yanco (1967) by Agnes Varda — two of my favorites that remind me of the beauty of being alive together. I was originally planning this screening for late Spring to go thematically with the changing of the seasons, but now that December is creeping to a close I decided that I wanted to feel the sun.
The idea for the All of Life series came to me when I first watched Voices Through Time. I was so struck with this film that I watched it twice in one day (the only time I have ever done that). An overlooked masterpiece, Voices Through Time is a poetic, non-narrative film that meditates on the cyclical nature of life. Set in the village of Castellaro in Italy's Lombardy region, the film captures the rhythms, impressions, and quiet pleasures of daily life among the town's inhabitants. Though Italian is sporadically heard in passing conversations and exchanges, the film intentionally forgoes subtitles. Remarkably, Voices Through Time—like all of Piavoli’s oeuvre—transcends language, achieving a universal vision. From birth to death, it encapsulates the profound and undeniable beauty of life.
Franco Piavoli — who directed, shot, and edited Voices Through Time — describes the film as encompassing “the course of life like a river flowing without whirlpools, without waterfalls, to let people consider the incessant flowing of things, the unstoppable course of time.” Rather than speculating on the origins or mechanics of life, or presenting it in a didactic manner, the film simply observes life as it unfolds: waking up, playing with friends, sitting by the water, gathering in the town square, dancing into the night, celebrating love, gazing at the moon. Voices Through Time makes me want to live.
By the beloved Agnes Varda, Uncle Yanco is portrait of the filmmaker’s bohemian, long-lost relative, and in turn, the counterculture of the floating community of Sausalito, San Francisco in the 1967. Mirroring the energy of the place and time, Uncle Yanco, with its psychedelic color palette, is playful and optimistic. It is no wonder that Agnes Varda, in reflecting on her career, wanted to be known as living life to the fullest. The charming tone of this short film unequivocally captures this sentiment.
While a completely different energy and cadence from Voices Through Time, Uncle Yanco gives a similar life-affirming feeling that I am eternally on the hunt to feel when watching movies.
We will be opening the doors early at 6:30 to share some soup together (if you opt in!), so be sure to indicate your dietary restrictions in the rsvp form. Bonus points if you bring a bowl and spoon. Voices Through Time will start at 7:30, followed by Uncle Yanco. Space is limited, so please rsvp if you know you’ll be coming!
<3 Liza
PS, If you don’t live in Richmond or cannot make it but would like to watch either of these films, please email me—I have links to share with you.