Niki

AroView: A fine biographical portrait of Niki de Saint Phalle, a French sculptor, painter, filmmaker and author who was widely noted as one of the few female monumental sculptors.

You might know Charlotte Le Bon as the French free-spirit in The White Lotus, and she is completely captivating as a complex modern wife-and-mother who escapes the grip of 1950s America and arrives in Paris desperate to navigate a path to self-expression. Though Niki’s actual art is not evident in the film, this seems to get the psychological (im)balance right and as such is a rewarding meditation on resilience, female agency, and the unstoppable creative drive.

“This fascinating portrait is transcended by the one who plays the title role: Charlotte Le Bon delivers an embodiment so electrifying and moving that it feels like the most beautiful tribute that could be paid to the artist.” ~Renaud Baronian, Le Parisien

“Céline Sallette paints with passion and brilliance the artistic blossoming of Niki de Saint Phalle.” ~Eric Neuhoff, Le Figaro

Iconic artist Niki de Saint Phalle shattered rigid expectations of womanhood, forging a fearless new language of feminism through bold, explosive art. Against all odds, she transformed personal pain into monumental works like HON, the 25M long supine pregnant woman where the public enter the sculpture via the vagina, espousing female strength and the unapologetic power of womanhood, emerging as a trailblazing force: sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and fearless feminist.