Brigitte Rollet – författare

Coline Serreau became famous in 1985 when her third film, Trois hommes et un couffin (Three Men and a Baby), the most successful French film of the 1980s. She was already known in France for her major contribution to feminist documentaries with the acclaimed Mais qu'est-ce qu'elles veulent?, a series of interviews with French women made between 1975 and 1977. She is now a key figure in French cinema and drama, with international hits including Romuald et Juliette (1989) and La Crise (1992). This appraisal of her work situates her films within the social, cultural and political context of France since May 1968, and assesses th emajor impact of the women's movement on French society and culture. Politics and sexual politics, two key aspects of Serreau's films and plays, are thoroughly examined. This book also considers the cultural influences of her work, and provides an overview of her films and filmic skills. Special attention is given to comedy, the cinematographic genre favoured by Serreau and the French audience, which is apprehended from a historical and gendered perspective. The clarity of the style and the wide-ranging analysis of Serreau's films and filming techniques make this book relevant both to students of film and film enthusiasts.

"Cinema and the Second Sex" provides a critical assessment of women's wide-ranging contributions to the contemporary French film industry, both behind and in front of the camera, from 1981 to the present. The introduction identifies issues in women's film-making and assesses the representation of women within an historical and theoretical framework. Each chapter in the book includes close analysis of 5 or 6 films, and a concluding chapter examines the value and place of women in the current French film industry.

Women's filmmaking in France has been a source of both delight and despair. On the one hand, the numbers are impressive – over 250 feature-length films were made by over 100 women directors in France in the 1980s and 1990s. On the other hand, despite the heritage of French feminism, French women directors characteristically disclaim their gender as a significant factor in their filmmaking. This incisive study provides an informative, critical guide to this major body of work, exploring the boundaries between personal films (intimate psychological dramas relating to key stages in life) and genre films (which demonstrate women's ability to appropriate and rework popular genres). It analyzes the effects of postfeminism, women's desire to enter the mainstream, and the impact of a new generation of filmmakers, enabling readers to take stock of the wealth and diversity of women's contribution to French cinema during the 1980s and 1990s.