Portrait of a Lady On-screen: Self-Portraiture through Self-Reflexive Documentary in Agnès Varda’s The Beaches of Agnès and Sandi Tan’s Shirkers

This article argues that the specific perspectives present in the documentaries The Beaches of Agnès by Agnès Varda and Shirkers by Sandi Tan transcend definitions in traditional documentary theory, defining them as self-portraits instead. Examining the embodiment of these filmmakers, as well as the people and place-based reflection in their films, this article finds that the transcendent artistic perspectives of these works should be named as such.