52 Films by Women Vol 10. 36. LES FILLES DU CIEL (Girls From Above) (Director: Bérangère McNeese)
Pictured : Three young women ( Mona Berard , Yowa-Angélys Tshikaya and Shirel Nataf ) attend a medical consultation accompanying their new flatmate, Héloïse ( Héloïse Volle , bottom left) in a scene from the Belgian film, ' Les Filles du Ciel ' (' Girls from Above ') written and directed by Bérangère McNeese . Still courtesy of Memento Films (Belgium) For her feature debut, Les Filles du Ciel ( Girls From Above ) actress turned writer-director Bérangère McNeese has produced the archetypal Belgian film: social-realist, concerned with people on the margins who, having been dealt low blows, nevertheless find ways to get by. These ways are not always safe or legal, but we are invited to sympathise and in the process we learn (or re-learn) that there is good in everyone. In perpetuating a national cinema that only concerns itself with those in desperate need, McNeese and other directors working in Belgian cinema don’t offer role models for their audienc...