Stephanie Gillard was born in Paris. After studying law, Stephanie Gillard worked as a assistant director, then as a programming assistant and as a assistant producer.
The Ride
Filmed in winter 2011 and produced by Julie Gayet's production company : Rouge International : The Ride takes audiences on the annual Chief Big Foot Memorial Ride that retraces Lakota's history. After the defeat of General Custer at Little Big Horn and the surrender and execution of Chief Sitting Bull, the Lakota Sioux fled through South Dakota, joined by Chief Big Foot's people and chased by the US Cavalry. In December 1890, at Wounded Knee, the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Lakota took place. Allison Meier states : The Ride is very much in the vein of cinéma vérité. There are captivating moments when you can almost feel the movement of the horses, their number growing as the ride goes on, flying manes and raised hooves silhouetted against the sky. Mateo Moreno says about The Ride :"Not having a main narrator was an interesting choice as well. It feels real and raw. Stunningly crafted cinematography by Martin de Chabaneix really brings the beauty out of the ordinary moments of life. This is a ride definitely worth going on." The french filmmaker explains : "My idea originally was that all history was told by the people who were doing the ride. Even for the people in the movie it was a big surprise. I thought, it's always white people who are explaining what has happened to them. And I was like, no, it's going to be them explaining what happened to their ancestors."
The Squad, also produced by Julie Gayet, deals with the Olympique Lyonnais women’s football team. Journalist Wendy Hide says :"The Squad works on multiple levels. It’s a sports documentary which is compelling enough to land even with an audience which has little interest in football. It’s a fierce feminist treatise which never tips over into tiresome polemicising. For the next generation of footballers, both female and male, it could be a catalyst and an inspiration.Impressive, kinetic work from cinematographer Jean-Marc Bouzou captures both the on-pitch thrill of highly trained professional athletes at the top of their game, and the locker room dynamics and banter." The hollywoodreporter states : "In Stéphanie Gillard’s enlightening behind-the-scene sports documentary The Squad, we get to know the female players of Olympique Lyonnais up close and personal. Gillard’s feature offers up a much-needed corrective to her country’s extremely male-centric vision of soccer."
