Philippa Hawker is easily one of Australia's most prominent and influential film critics. She is best known as film reviewer for The Age, a position she has held since 1997. She is one of the most incisive film critics in the country, able to balance a complex knowledge of cinema with accessible, engaging prose. And we are delighted that she will be joining us for this month's Hyphenates!

So which filmmaker has Philippa chosen to talk about?

None other than legendary Belgian director Agnès Varda!

Though born in Belgian, Varda is more closely identified with French cinema. When the French New Wave began, Varda was part of the Left Bank Cinema - sometimes called a subgroup of FNW, other times called a completely different movement - alongside the likes of Chris Marker and Alan Resnais.

Her films are steeped in realism, with a distinct documentary style incorporated into all of her works. After her first film, 1954's La Pointe Courte, she made the extraordinary Cléo from 5 to 7 in 1961, Le Bonheur in 1965, Vagabond in 1984, The Gleaners and I in 2000, and the seminal documentary The Beaches of Agnès in 2009. She has not stopped working since the 1950s, and has remained a consistent innovator her entire life.

She's a name that's known to ardent cinephiles, but rarely mentioned with as much frequency as her contemporaries Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut or Claude Chabrol. So we can think of no better opportunity to find out more about this amazing director who has redefined cinema for the past sixty years.

Join us on July 31 as we talk Agnès Varda with guest Philippa Hawker!