Agnès Varda’s cinematic writing as political art in Black Panthers

In Black Panthers, rather than identifying with or speaking for the Black Panther Party, Varda’s cinécriture ‐ her shot choices, camera movement and editing ‐ allows her to insert her commentary about the group’s revolutionary potential while the members determine themselves as subjects rather than accepting their definition by the state. Her film foregrounds the politics of social space, showing how the Panthers transform spaces of circulation like the courthouse and their neighbourhoods into spaces of contestation.