A return to her earliest artistic roots as a still photographer, Varda’s newest film is both a touching companion piece to her beloved The Gleaners and I—and, like that earlier work, a road movie essay film that effortlessly interweaves the personal and political. United with French muralist-artist JR, Varda sets out on a deliberately and poignantly minor voyage to explore the overlooked corners of a depopulated rural France in JR’s giant van, an enormous black box able to create monumental photographic likenesses of locals won over by the seemingly unlikely yet instinctively bonded duo. Faces Places is as much about the life stories encountered along the way as about Varda herself, who muses revealingly about her life as a filmmaker, her friendships, memories and regrets. A late and unexpectedly resolved encounter with the paranoically withdrawn Jean-Luc Godard delivers an emotional jolt to the film that allows us to appreciate the singular empathy and genuine humanism that make Varda such a beloved icon and dedicated artist, one whose work continues to resonate with new audiences. – HG