One of the most outstanding figures of 20th century Latin American art, María was the first Mexican woman to have her work exhibited in the US.

Agnès’ style, which would permeate throughout her films, exhibits what Roy Armes called a “balance between the personal and the political, the theatrical and the documentary”, and earned Agnès the title of “godmother of French New Wave”.

Born Gloria Jean Watkins, bell was raised in a small, segregated town in Kentucky. Growing up in segregated schools, bell would read Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes and William Wordsworth. Once the South became desegregated in the 60s, bell’s adolescence was framed by the violence and upheaval she faced from her predominantly white teachers and peers.