Cinema and the Second Sex provides a critical assessment of women's wide-ranging contributions to the contemporary French film industry, both behind and in front of the camera, from 1981 to the present. The introduction identifies issues in women's film-making and assesses the representation of women within an historical and theoretical framework. Each chapter in the book includes close analysis of 5 or 6 films, and a concluding chapter examines the value and place of women in the current French film industry.