The Strike is Gabrielle Stemmer’s adaptation of the French contemporary book La chair est triste hélas (The Flesh is Sad, Alas) written in 2022 by Ovidie, a French director, former porn actress, and writer. The book explores the decision of a woman who begins what she calls a “sex strike” after years of being mistreated and disappointed by men.

In the film, the voice-over explores the personal confessions of women who have experienced a lack of fulfilment, dissatisfaction, and even violence in their relationships with men while the visuals correspond to archival materials that explore older and newer female imagery. As Stemmer states “Archives are living matter – haunted by ghosts, layered with double meanings and feeling of déjà vu. I’ve always wanted to create a vast collage capable of blending eras, sources, and emotions.”

Through a blend of found footage including 1950s–1980s French television archives, old amateur films, and diary entries, the filmmaker uncovers the patriarchal domination that exists beneath female imagery and, ultimately, the cracks in the heterosexual model.

This film is screened with Left Behind, a break-up diary of a young, female Greek activist.

AC