Book launch – How to make female action heroes

Indian stunt artists who hide their faces are paid more than those who show their faces, while Black women stunt artists are often cast for character types who don’t even get a proper name in the script. Madhusree Dutta writes on hierarchy and exclusion in cinematic practices, with alternating chapters from the life stories of two female film students. Situated in a space between the personal and the archival, Dutta maps the construction of the femme fatale look and the role of body-doubles in cinema when certain identities are preferred over others.

How to make female action heroes by Madhusree Dutta is commissioned and published by Kayfa ta, upon an invitation from Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art in the context of the project Archive außer sich.

How to make female action heroes by Madhusree Dutta Published by Kayfa ta, 2023 ISBN 978-1-955702-21-8 Cover artwork by Ali Yass

The book launch will take place at silent green Betonhalle.