One Sings, the Other Doesn't 12A

In one of her most politically charged films, Agnès Varda captures the emotional complexities at the heart of women’s struggle to win autonomy over their own bodies. Two Frenchwomen (Valérie Mairesse, Thérèse Liotard) have a close friendship through years of personal growth and social change.

In the early 1960s in Paris, two young women become friends. Pomme is an aspiring singer. Suzanne is a pregnant country girl unable to support a third child. Pomme lends Suzanne the money for an illegal abortion, but a sudden tragedy soon separates them. Ten years later, they reunite at a demonstration and pledge to keep in touch via postcard, as each of their lives is irrevocably changed by the women’s liberation movement.

A buoyant hymn to sisterly solidarity rooted in the hard-won victories of a generation of women, ONE SINGS, THE OTHER DOESN’T is one of Agnès Varda’s warmest and most politically trenchant films, a feminist musical for the ages. This is a 2K restoration sourced from the 35mm original camera negative.

BBFC notes: There are frequent verbal references to abortion, without graphic detail. In one scene a dead body is discovered after an off-screen suicide, but the visual detail is not strong.

A special screening for International Women's Day.