About the Book:

Women's film-making in France is a source of both delight and despair. On the one hand, the numbers are impressive — during the period in question, over 250 feature-length films were made by over 100 women directors in France. On the other hand, despite the heritage of French feminism, French women directors characteristically disclaim their gender as a significant factor in their filmmaking.

Cinema and the Second Sex is an incisive study that 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). Authors Carrie Tarr and Brigitte Rollet analyze the effects of "postfeminism," women's desire to enter the mainstream, and the recent impact of a new generation of filmmakers. Subtitled Women's Filmmaking in France in the 1980s And 1990s, the book thus enables readers for the first time to take stock of the wealth and diversity of women's contribution to French cinema during these two decades.

What people say:

"…a key volume in French Cinema studies … quite brilliant, a richly researched and crisp contextualization …of women's filmmaking." — Film Studies

About the Author:

Carrie Tarr is Senior Research Fellow in Film Studies at Kingston University in London. and has published widely on French cinema.

Brigitte Rollet is Senior Lecturer in French Cultural Studies at the University of London Institute in Paris. She has published widely on French cinema and television.