Violence Against Women

2021 - 6 minutes

Video composed of archival clips from the 1950s to the 1980s highlighting social and cultural misogyny. The device of simultaneous screens underlines the duplicity of feminist struggles in a patriarchal system that places women in constant equilibrium between allegedly antagonist models: the whore/ the nun, the worker/ the mother, the body/ the brain etc. It also shows how different forms of violence - mental, physical, social - are all connected.

On the Use of Self-Defense

2021 - 12 minutes

When and why do women learn self defense, and does it change anything? This short documentary looks at women’s self defense from both an intimate perspective and a historical one. Self defense expert Susie Kahlich shares her story of assault, the martial arts training she embarked on as a direct response, and the program she developed in her efforts to encourage more women to learn basic technics to protect themselves. Intercut with Susie’s story is archival footage from the 1970s, that illustrate the fear, rage and resignation every generation of women continues to experience.

Birth of a Cabaret

2016 - 52 minutes

Trailer

Manko cabaret opened in 2016 with the ambition to revive the spirit of Paris's golden age of the ’70s and ’80s. A time when cabarets were places of freedom, where performers and audience partied together until sunrise. This documentary follows the creation of Manko's first show. In the dust of a venue still under construction, we discover a troupe composed of cross-dressers, contortionists, fakirs, acrobats. We watch them craft acts that shake our social norms, mixing queer and circus references. We witness their joys, fears and efforts, from the first rehearsal to the climactic night of the opening.

Teaser #1