The Gleaners and I, it is called, and the title emphasizes the autobiographical element in this small, compassionate film. These can simply be recycled or used to produce self-styled art. In urban areas gleaners will pick through garbage cans to collect whatever food items have been thrown by supermarkets. Varda films and interviews The Gleaners and I (French: Les glaneurs et la glaneuse; "The gleaners and the female gleaner", a reference to the director herself) is a 2000 French documentary film by Agnès Varda that features various kinds of gleaning.It was entered into competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival ("Official Selection 2000"), and later went on to win awards around the world. Describing herself as a gleaner of ideas and images from interior as well as exterior journeys gives the director a special connection with her subjects in this honest and intriguing documentary. Directed by Werner Herzog. Varda focuses her eye on gleaners: those who scour already-reaped fields for the odd potato or turnip. Directed by Agnès Varda. "The Gleaners and I" places them in an ancient tradition. In 2000, Agnès Varda travelled the French countryside to study the world of foragers and scavengers called The Gleaners. 93% Accompanying the original 2000 documentary on this DVD is the 2002 "sequel", " With Dieter Dengler, Werner Herzog, Eugene Deatrick. With François Wertheimer, Agnès Varda, Jean La Planche, Bodan Litnanski. German-American Dieter Dengler discusses his service as a U.S. naval pilot in the Vietnam War. It is a late-career personal essay by a filmmaker whose personal touch was incubated in one of the most personal of all national cinemas, the French New Wave of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Varda focuses her eye on gleaners: those who scour already-reaped fields for the odd potato or turnip. Since 1554, when King Henry IV affirmed the right of gleaning, it has been a practice protected by the French constitution, and today the men and women who sift through the dumpsters and markets of Paris are the descendants of gleaners who were painted by Millet and Van Gogh. Pickers on the other hand are those who collect non-food items put out for refuse collection. The Gleaners & I movie reviews & Metacritic score: An intimate, picaresque inquiry into French life, as lived by the country's poor and its provident, as well as by the film's own director, Agnès Varda. The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later (2002) The Gleaners & I (2000) The Young Girls Turn 25 (1993) The Gleaners and I takes a compassionate look at a rarely considered subculture whose individualism resonates powerfully with director Agnès Varda's humanistic approach. Synopsis. Her investigation leads from forgotten corners of the French countryside to off-hours at the green markets of Paris, following those who insist on finding a use for that which society has cast off, whether out of necessity or activism. Her investigation leads from forgotten corners of the French countryside to off-hours at the green markets of Paris, following those who insist on finding a use for that which society has cast off, whether out of necessity or activism. Dengler also revisits the sites of his capture and eventual escape from the hands of the Viet Cong, recreating many events for the camera.