Ydessa Hendeles’ exhibition The Living and the Artificial had puzzled Agnès Varda, so she decided to go to Toronto where the artist lives to interview her. Ydessa tells her about the singularity of her artistic approach and discusses the Holocaust, which both her parents survived.

One of a triptych of films in Varda’s Cinevardaphoto, this short looks at the teddy-bear exhibition of Ydessa Hendeles, who caught the eye of the open-minded director. Traveling to Toronto in pursuit of her subject, Varda explores the nostalgic and increasingly dark elements at play in her art.