Niki de Saint Phalle – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

NIKI – Review by Nadine Whitney

March 3, 2025 Nadine Whitney biographic, Céline Sallette, Charlotte Le Bon, Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint Phalle, Olivia Ross

Niki de Saint-Phalle is an intoxicating subject for a biographic film: an avant-garde artist and icon who bucked convention and rejected the patriarchal strictures that sought to reduce her to either hobbyist or hysteric. Actor and first-time filmmaker Céline Sallette revels in her own fascination with Niki, and that immersed adoration for the iconoclastic woman at times is transferred to the audience via Charlotte Le Bon’s excellent performance. Unfortunately, the absence of Niki de Saint-Phalle’s artwork and the meandering structure of the film ultimately make Niki feel like an unrefined sketch.

Festivals

NYFF 2023: Female-Focused Wrap – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

October 10, 2023October 15, 2023 Margaret Barton-Fumo Agnieszka Holland, Alice Rohrwacher, Catherine Breillat, Deborah Stratman, female filmmakers, Joanna Arnow, justine triet, Lee Grant, Michèle Stephenson, Niki de Saint Phalle, NYFF 2023, Raven Jackson, Rosine Mbakam, sofia coppola

Women directors held their own at this year’s New York Film Festival, with impressive films in each of the fest’s coveted programs, from the Main Slate to Revivals. We’ll dip into each of these categories, singling out some of the lesser-known titles, in a women-focused overview of the fest. Starting off with the generally crowd-pleasing Main Slate, a number of women-directed features stood out (eight out of thirty-two, in fact).

Festivals

New York Film Festival 2023: Female Filmmakers in Focus – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

September 15, 2023September 16, 2023 Margaret Barton-Fumo Agnieszka Holland, Alice Rohrwacher, Annie Baker, Catherine Breillat, Deborah Stratman, female filmmakers, Joanna Arnow, justine triet, New York Film Festival, Niki de Saint Phalle, NYFF 2023, sofia coppola

The New York Film Festival is set to return to the city with a packed schedule of international films. A little over one-fifth of the features this year are directed by women, with several standouts in the coveted Main Slate. Sofia Coppola’s highly anticipated Priscilla is one such feature, scheduled to be the festival’s “Centerpiece” screening. Many critics are eagerly situating Coppola’s film, which is based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir, Elvis and Me, as the femme-centric antidote to Baz Luhrmann’s bombastic rock ‘n’ roll biopic. All assumed comparisons aside, the subject matter is certainly well-suited to its director, given Coppola’s accomplished history of directing moody tales of alienated women.