No Mercy

Do women really make edgier films than men? The documentary’s director decided to verify this thesis, once put forward by Ukrainian filmmaker Kira Muratova. Analysing the work of such acclaimed contemporary female directors as Céline Sciamma (‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’), Alice Diop (‘Saint Omer’) and Virginie Despentes (‘Vernon Subutex’), she demonstrates how the so-called ‘women’s cinema’ can defy the stereotype. Numerous film clips and statements by the filmmakers come together to form a brilliant cinematic essay, engaging with such concepts as the ‘weaker sex’ or the ‘female gaze’.