Moving out of the Background: Québec Women Filmmakers and the American Roads
Moving out of the Background: Québec Women Filmmakers and the American Roads

Summary/Abstract: In the American tradition of the road movie, female characters have often been relegated to being sex workers, third wheels, or background characters who can only be foils to the journeys of male characters on the road. This study examines how two Québécois documentaries, Hotel Chronicles (Léa Pool, 1990) and L.A. Tea Time (Sophie Bédard-Marcotte, 2019) comment on and subvert these expectations of women by placing them simultaneously behind the camera and behind the steering wheel as they travel these American roads. In completing close analysis of scenes from both films and comparing it with texts in feminist studies and Québécois cultural history, this study will reveal the fabricated nature of the American road as well as attest how Québécois women find their place on it.

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