Baltic Cinema: Faces Places

Recognising a like-minded soul in each other, Agnès Varda and JR set out together to explore the villages and small towns of rural France. Baltic Cinema: Faces Places (12a) Visages Villages Thursday 26 November | 18:30 £6 / £4.50* per person Dir. Agnès Varda / France / 2017 / 1hr 34mins Recognising a like-minded soul in each other, Agnès Varda and JR set out together to explore the villages and small towns of rural France. Journeying in JR’s van-sized Polaroid camera, the two create a series of large-scale portraits of the people they meet, plastering the results across unconventional locations around the country – even finding time to put a shot of Varda’s toes on a passing train. Having started out as a photographer, the veteran 90 year-old director’s fascination with people is matched by 35 year-old JR’s enthusiasm and together they make a delightful, perfect odd couple. Winner of the Golden Eye Award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, Faces Places is a heart-warming portrait of community and a paean to friendship. ‘As provocative as it is poetic and poignant’ —David Parkinson, Empire ★★★★ ‘Utterly spectacular, and often unbearably moving.’ —The Guardian ★★★★ Watch the Trailer --- Doors open 18:00; Film starts 18:30. Pop-up cinema bar open from 18:00 for drinks. Please note we cannot offer refunds on this event. *Concessions: under 18s, unwaged & 65+ --- Shooting the Messenger November 2026 – March 2027 Films on Photographers, Photographers on Film. What drives photographers to frame, to capture, to record? Sometimes compulsion, sometimes necessity, always curiosity. Across five documentaries, this season looks at photography and photographers – their desires and struggles, passions and fears – to accompany Baltic’s current exhibition Tish Murtha & Kuba Ryniewicz: Close to Home. The films propose photography as a lifetime’s quest and suggest that for many photographers – whether railing against the system, documenting their communities or pushing the boundaries of the medium – the more they take photographs, the more they know themselves. View the full film schedule --- Baltic Cinema Baltic Cinema is a year-round cinema programme at Baltic, lighting up our Level 1 Cinema with the best new and archive films. Expanding on our exhibition themes and bringing otherwise rarely-screened work to the North East. Supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of the BFI Film Audience Network. Accessibility We want our events to be inclusive and accessible. If you have any accessibility requests or questions, please email [email protected]. Ahead of your visit, you can find out about Baltic's facilities and accessibility here.