Hélène Harder

Hélène Harder is a French-German filmmaker and author. She is known for the documentary films Ladies' Turn and Fatna, a Woman Named Rachid.

Education Hélène Harder studied philosophy at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, then turned to filmmaking when a serious accident disrupted her studies.

Career After training at the University of California, Berkeley, Hélène Harder worked in New York and Paris. In 2012, she made her first feature documentary, Ladies' Turn, about women's football in Senegal. The documentary was selected for festivals in more than 15 countries, won four awards, and was broadcast on TV5Monde, Arte and PBS.

For Fatna, a Woman Named Rachid, she used a non-linear structure that moves between Fatna El Bouih's imprisonment and her life in present-day Casablanca. She also incorporated excerpts from Moroccan films shot in Casablanca during the late 1960s and 1970s. The archival material was used to connect the city shown in El Bouih's memories with contemporary Casablanca.

Hélène Harder and Fatna El Bouih developed the film's voice-over together. According to Harder, they decided against a conventional biographical structure and did not want the film to present El Bouih only through her imprisonment and past suffering.

She has also worked as a videographer and photographer, particularly for dance companies, theatre, contemporary art venues and online media.