Political Films Meet-Up: The Gleaners and I

Political Films Meet-Up: The Gleaners and I (2000)

Let’s talk about movies! Join movie club member Clay Vaughn for the next film in our Political Films series with Agnès Varda's The Gleaners and I (2000), a documentary about rural and urban gleaners and their historical heritage. The film also touches upon poverty, French wine and culinary culture, the penal code, and Varda's cats.

Here’s how The Portland Movie Club meet-ups work:

• Just like a book club, we watch the movie on our own time before we meet.
• We'll meet at Lucky Lab on SE Hawthorne at 4pm on the scheduled date.
• We'll typically have a sign at our table(s) but at least we'll try to be obvious and identifiable.
• Grab some food and drinks to support our generous hosts and spend some time socializing and discussing this movie with us.

A Few Notes about the film:
Varda's 18th feature, The Gleaners and I (originally Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse) enjoyed critical acclaim upon its release, and frequently appears on lists of greatest documentaries. In 2025 it ranked number 88 on The New York Times' list of the 100 best films of the 21st century. In 2002 Varda released a follow-up titled The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later, which may come up in our discussion as well.

Viewing Options for the film:
The film is available to stream on The Criterion Channel, which is a paid service but offers a one-month free trial. It is not currently available on Multnomah County Library's Kanopy, but might if you live in a different county. And, as always, a DVD copy is available to rent at Movie Madness. Try not to hold onto it for too long.

About Political Films:
This series started out focusing on the New Republic article "The 100 Most Significant Political Films of All Time" published in June 2023, but we've since expanded well beyond the list. Both the documentaries and narrative fiction films we discuss tend to include difficult imagery and subject matter, we suggest the website "Does the Dog Die?" for content warnings.

Tips:
Once again, we do not watch the movie at the meet-up. All members watch the movie on their own time before we meet to discuss it. You don't have to watch the movie to join us, but it'll make more sense if you do. Feel free to bring along any notes, books, or articles you'd like to share with the group.

At the end of the discussion we'll pass around a ballot where we can vote on a slate of options for the next discussion. Lately we've been alternating documentaries and fiction films. So if you come to a meet-up to discuss a documentary, you'll vote on a ballot of fiction films for next time, and vice versa.

Films previously discussed in the political group:
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, I Am Not Your Negro, It's a Wonderful Life, Reds, Soundtrack to a Coup D'État, The Conformist, The Fog of War, The Zone of Interest, Harlan County USA, Judas And The Black Messiah, Medium Cool, The President’s Analyst, Marat/Sade, On The Waterfront, The Great McGinty, Seven Days In May, The Candidate, The Act of Killing, The Battle Of Algiers, All The President’s Men, How To Blow Up A Pipeline, Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, A Face In The Crowd, and Dr. Strangelove.

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