Documenteur with Lydia Ogwang

Made during the same L.A. sojourn that produced Mur Murs (and shortly after Varda’s temporary separation from her husband Jacques Demy), the short fictional feature Documenteur trades the sun-drenched pastels and plaster walls of its predecessor for a dolorous pale green as it follows Emilie (played by Varda’s Mur Murs co-editor Sabine Mamou), a young French woman newly separated from her husband, as she attempts to build some stability for herself and her young son (played by Varda and Demy’s son Mathieu) in their new city. Commenting on her feelings and experiences via a ruminative inner monologue, Emilie struggles quietly in post-dissolution ennui, drifting between escapism and immersion in her new surroundings until finally finding some semblance of peace — though the sly presence of the French word “menteur” (liar) tucked into the film’s title invites us to consider the role of personal fictions (and self-deceptions) in the process of survival and self-preservation.