The veteran documentarian Claire Simon builds a collective portrait of the body and its varied encounters with the medical system, focusing on cisgender and trans individuals from a range of backgrounds and ages as they visit a public hospital in Paris. The panoramic view includes screenings for cancer; treatments for fertility, endometriosis, and unwanted pregnancies; and care for a trans woman facing the start of menopause. Eventually Simon becomes one of the film’s subjects as she examines what it means for her to live in a woman’s body. Among the most essential documentaries of our time, Our Body is an especially radical act of empathy, observation, and care at a time when bodily autonomy continues to be politicized. (168 mins., DCP)
Please note: Hospital procedures and health issues are presented graphically in this documentary.