Elusive, unconventional, on a quest for the absolute: painter and photographer Dora Maar left a unique and still largely under-appreciated body of work behind her. Maar’s extraordinary life saw her working alongside the greatest names in the Parisian art scene; she was also the lover of Picasso and the wife of Georges Bataille. Toppling conventions and shattering norms, Dora Maar breathed strength and character back into the image of 20th-century women. Hailed by critics, this film is an intimate portrayal that handles its subject with skill and sensitivity.
This is the fabulous tale of Grisélidis Réal, prostitute and poet, woven together from images and archive material that conjure up her extraordinary life and world. Her writings chart her days spent in a Swiss brothel and her time as an activist in Paris, tracing her political ideals as this impassioned woman took the world by storm. It’s a pure joy to (re)discover her texts here, as if in an exquisitely revised edition.
