To mark International Women’s Day, the public TV channel France 2 broadcast Les Siffleurs [The Whistlers], a mini-series on harassment in the street, created by Nathalie Marchak (E03). We interviewed the director.

ESSEC Alumni: How did you go from ESSEC to series director? 

N. Marchak: In parallel to my studies at ESSEC, I also followed courses in drama at the Périmony School of Dramatic Arts. Once I graduated, I did some theatre and film acting, notably with a role in the film Les Parisiens by Claude Lelouch. I then followed a short course at New York University, on the advice of director Cédric Klapisch, whom I met during the shooting of Russian Dolls. On returning to France, I tried out several jobs in the sector, such as artistic management for medium-length films, production with MK2, and finance with a film and audiovisual funding company… before dropping everything to work on the screenplay of my first feature film Par Instinct. 

EA: What is your mini-series Les Siffleurs about? 

N. Marchak: It’s a thriller which explores street harassment, cyber-harassment and the notion of consent. Lila, a beautiful student, played by Ludmilla Makowski (discovered in the series Lupin), suddenly goes missing after an evening out with her girl friends. She had created a social media account, @lessiffleurs (The Whistlers), where she posted selfies with every man who harassed her in the street. Captain Marianne Kacem (played by Nadia Farès), who is heading the investigation, can’t help thinking that Lila was to blame for wearing a mini-skirt and provoking her harassers. She finds herself partnered with a young man who is an active feminist and believes that all harassers are potential rapists. As the investigation unfolds, she comes across a man she hasn’t seen for 20 years, played by Charles Berling, who forces her to face her own past.  

EA: What reality did you base Les Siffleurs on? 

N. Marchak: In France, 86% of women claim to have been a victim of street harassment, 66% have been cat-called and 31% physically molested, according to an IFOP survey published in 2018. Those are the figures. I based my screenplay above all on my own experience, however. The harassment sequence at the beginning of the first episode corresponds to the numerous attacks I was subjected to. I was walking down the street once when a car slowed down alongside me. There were three young men in the car who began insulting me for fun. Then they blocked my path, got out of the car and pushed me up against a wall. I thought they were going to rape me. I was frozen with terror. Literally voiceless. I had dreams about that moment for a long time after, imagining I could make a sound, then speak and find a clever way to escape. In real life, luckily, a police car patrolling the area that day arrived and my attackers fled. 

EA: Did you lodge a complaint? 

N. Marchak: I didn’t lodge a complaint that day, or any other time I was harassed, contrary to Lila in the series. She wants to change the system. She represents a new generation that speaks out so that a woman can walk down the street alone and dress as she pleases, without fear. This attitude is mirrored by numerous organisations such as Dis Bonjour Sale Pute, Nous Toutes, or La Fondation des Femmes

EA: Among these people speaking out, there is the young woman behind the Instagram account @dearcatcallers…

N. Marchak: Exactly. I was also inspired by this very brave young woman who posts selfies with the men who harass her in the street. I thought about the risks she takes in publicly denouncing her harassers, as well as the consequences of this media exposure for those men. 

EA: It is a tricky task to turn such a sensitive subject into a work of fiction. What precautions did you take? 

N. Marchak: I began by reading a vast amount of victims’ accounts. I then worked with my male co-author Laurent Burtin, to balance our viewpoints, because the idea was not to write a manifesto attacking men, but rather an invitation to question these phenomena and deconstruct them impartially. When I had completed the scenarios, I had police officers read them for their feedback. This reassured me that our screenwriting was realistic. 

EA: The mini-series portrays in particular a generational difference in the perception of this issue. Why did you choose to highlight this aspect? 

N. Marchak: Do you remember the manifesto for the "freedom to bother"? Many young women did not understood this stance taken by some of their elders, who had moreover fought for the right to abortion and sexual freedom. In fact, the new generation is going further. It does not refuse the idea of "flirting" however, contrary to what certain people believe. It just no longer tolerates unwelcome and ongoing sexual remarks in the street, on public transport or in night clubs. Describing this change in mentalities and its consequences through characters of various ages was aimed simply at making viewers think. 

EA: What message are you ultimately trying to get across with Les Siffleurs? 

N. Marchak: I hope that parents will watch this mini-series with their pre-teens, teens, their boys and girls, and discuss it. I’d like to dismantle the idea that it is up to women to be careful when they go outside. We must re-educate our society so that these daily attacks, which sometimes end in drama, cease! 

EA: This is not the first time you have defended a feminist cause through your work. 

N. Marchak: My first feature film, Par Instinct, denounced the traffic of women between Africa and Europe. There are other topics I want to tackle, in particular prostitution. I often wonder if these monetised sexual practices would exist in a matriarchal society.

EA: You also joined the Collectif 5050 movement which fights for equality and diversity in your sector. What solutions does your organisation offer? 

N. Marchak: Collective 5050 notably helped to persuade Delphine Ernotte, President of France Télévisions, to implement equality between men and women directors of fictional productions. I firmly believe that this engagement contributed to France 2’s decision to air Les Siffleurs, for example, in addition to numerous other projects. A few years ago, I was still against imposing quotas, but I now believe they are a necessary transitional measure to bring in change.

EA: You are also an active member of the Authors-Directors-Producer’s organisation (ARP), as their volunteer Vice President. What practical actions do you lead? 

N. Marchak: ARP was founded by Claude Berri and 33 filmmakers/producers including Agnès Varda, Patrice Chéreau, Gérard Oury, Costa Gavras and Henri Verneuil. At present, it rallies more than 200 female and male filmmakers of all ages and genres representing the diversity and richness of French and European film, and fervent advocates of creative freedom and independence. Renowned in particular for having initiated the adoption of the notion of cultural exception by 183 UNESCO countries, ARP plays an active role in key negotiations on the future of filmmaking and its national and European regulation, in addition to considerations relative to media chronology, the emergence of new uses, TV channel and platform obligations, economic transparency, the exposure and operation of films for cinema, and sexual violence in the sector. ARP’s statutes were modified recently to enable the suspension of any member under investigation in these kinds of affairs, such as Roman Polanski. The measure provides for their reinstatement if they are discharged or definitive exclusion if convicted, for the duration of their sentence. This is a strong signal sent out to our members, who have a duty of exemplarity. 

EA: Have you any other projects around these issues in the pipeline?

N. Marchak: I’m currently casting my next feature film, which will be in English. It was selected for the inaugural list of the WScripted Cannes Screenplay List from 25 scenarios written by women of high international potential. The scenario doesn’t deal with sexist violence, but it does focus on a powerful female character, a strong mother who does everything she can, in the face of adversity, to restore joy to her son’s life. 

See the mini-series Les Siffleurs on France 2, 8 and 15 March at 9.10pm and on replay until 15 July.

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni.

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