Six legendary women directors finally get the mic—and the male gaze gets demolished.
The film consists largely of a series of interviews with female filmmakers from several different countries and filmmaking eras. Some, such as Agnès Varda and Catherine Breillat (both from France), have been making films for decades in a conscious effort to provide an alternative to the male filmmaking model; others, such as Moufida Tlatli (Tunisia) and Carine Adler (England), are relative newcomers to directing, and their approaches seem more personal and less political. The film as a whole manages to cover some important topics in the feminist debate about film -- how does one construct a female gaze, how can one film nude bodies without objectifying the actors (of either sex), what constitutes a strong female role -- while also making it clear that “women’s film” comprises as many different approaches to filmmaking as there are female filmmakers.
Direction
Marie Mandy lets legends speak without interruption.
Production
Rare archival access to six distinct filmmaking visions.
Director
Marie Mandy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released at the turn of the millennium, this doc captures a pivotal moment when 'women's cinema' was being archived and theorized just as digital filmmaking was about to democratize access.
Varda's presence alone makes this essential viewing—she shot this mere years before her late-career renaissance with The Beaches of Agnès (2008), cementing her status as the grandmother of the French New Wave.
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