Niki de Saint Phalle

The social and political climate during the McCarthy era in the USA prompts the artist Niki de Saint Phalle to move to France with her husband and daughter. But instead of a life of glamour as a model and actress in Paris, Niki soon broke down and had to seek psychiatric help. In the process, she discovers the fine arts and vigorously defies existing conventions. A deeply moving, powerful film portrait of a woman.

Niki de Saint Phalle (Charlotte Le Bon) is an aspiring model living in the United States during the McCarthy era. She has two children with her husband, the conductor and writer Harry Mathews, but the rigid norms, Niki's inner turmoil and her striving for artistic realisation drive her to flee to France. In Paris, she searches for a new beginning, but the shadows of her past won't let her go. During a stay in a psychiatric ward, Niki struggles with the truth about her childhood trauma. In her search for freedom and expressiveness, she finally discovers her voice in art and becomes one of the most important avant-garde artists of the 20th century. But this does not happen without causing offence and courageously challenging the boundaries of the established art world. The film is the story of her birth as a subversive artist - a deeply moving, powerful cinematic portrait of a woman.