Delphine et Carole, insoumuses

Es soll Jean Genet gewesen sein, der Carole Roussopoulos veranlasste, eine Kamera zu kaufen; jedenfalls war er Protagonist ihrer ersten Videoarbeit GENET PARLE D’ANGELA DAVIS (1970). Wenige Jahre später besuchte Delphine Seyrig, gefeierte Schauspielerin in Filmen von Truffaut, Buñuel und anderen, einen Workshop bei Roussopoulos. Die Begegnung war der Beginn einer intensiven Zusammenarbeit, die in die Gründung des Videokollektivs „Les Insoumuses“ gemeinsam mit Ivana Wieder sowie des “Archiv Simone de Beauvoir” mündete: funkensprühende Sternstunden des feministischen (Video-)Aktivismus in Frankreich, denen hier ein überaus materialreiches, liebevolles Denkmal gesetzt wird. (Katja Wiederspahn)

Callisto McNulty’s dual tribute recounts the friendship and fortitude of Delphine Seyrig and Carole Roussopoulos as they fought for feminism in the 1970s and beyond. Joining a video workshop run by Roussopoulos, Seyrig saw the potential of the new medium for telling women’s stories; Roussopoulos in turn was impressed by Seyrig’s courage in the face of the conservative French film industry and France in general. Galvanized by clips of activist actions (on TV shows and in the streets), pointed interviews, and contemporary film sequences, McNulty’s quietly rousing documentary channels the rush of freedom felt by the two women and other fearless feminists, embracing their identity and banishing the shame surrounding abortion, sex work, and the basic rights of autonomy and dignity. Roussopoulos (a grandmother of McNulty) died before completing her documentary about Seyrig, and McNulty’s film reveals the picture-perfect star to be a deeply compassionate and sharp advocate who had the zeal of the born-again, collaborating with Chantal Akerman and Marguerite Duras (INDIA SONG), and, of course, shooting video herself (SOIS BELLE ET TAIS-TOI). (Nicolas Rapold)