‘Cinema Has a Fascination With Sexist Violence’: Why Stuntwomen Are Often Cast as Victims

variety.com:

Marta Balaga In Elena Avdija’s documentary “Stuntwomen,” which is world premiering at Zurich Film Festival, you don’t just become a stuntwoman: you have to work for it.

Virginie Arnaud, Petra Sprecher and Estelle Piget certainly do, but they don’t always get to showcase their skills. “Cinema has a fascination with sexist violence.

We like to see women suffer, getting kidnapped or raped,” Avdija tells Variety. These are the scenes her protagonists are usually asked to portray. “What we see on the screen influences our society and our way of thinking.

Seeing sexist violence normalizes it in our minds. We need to find new ways of talking about it and Michaela Coel’s ‘I May Destroy You’ is a great inspiration.” Petra Sprecher, who is also an actor, was recently spotted in “Westworld” and “Lovecraft Country.” Arnaud worked as a stunt coordinator on Séries Mania-selected series “Syndrome E” and “Hors Saison,” while Piget appeared in Quentin Dupieux’s Cannes curio “Smoking Causes Coughing,” and soon will be seen in “The Three Musketeers: Milady.” But the professional stunt industry is still a man’s world, observes the helmer, with few women able to access it.