Gender and Genre in Banlieue Film, and the Guerrilla Film Brooklyn

Abstract

The twenty-first century has seen banlieue film expand as a filmic category. Of particular note, female directors and characters have entered banlieue film in earnest, thereby disrupting what had been male-centred films and film-making. Also, new trends and methods sometimes pulling in different directions have impacted the diversification of banlieue film. I consider Brooklyn (2014) in relation to Bande de filles (2014) for the primary reason that they broke new ground by featuring lead black actresses. Then I focus on guerrilla film Brooklyn to explore how a new wave of film-making in France has contributed to decentralizing and renewing the filmic category. In this article, then, gender and genre function as the primary critical lenses to survey the evolution of banlieue film.