TORONTO – MEDIA – How much do we actually know about prehistoric women and their role in society? Premiering on TVO on International Women’s Day (Tuesday, March 8, 2022) at 9 pm ET and streaming across Canada afterwards on TVO.org, YouTube and smart TV services including Apple TV and Amazon Fire, TVO Original Lady Sapiens delves into recent research that shows Paleolithic women were far more sophisticated than previously thought and it impacts our perspectives on society.
“The scientific research brought to life in Lady Sapiens is engrossing and will help liberate us from many old clichés,” says John Ferri, VP of Programming and Content at TVO. “The film is the result of a collaborative worldwide discovery, and it reveals as much about our world today as it does about our distant ancestors.”
“Lady Sapiens is an international coproduction between Little Big Story in France and Montreal-based Ideacom international,“ explains Josette D. Normandeau, producer at Ideacom International. “The film was made in association with Ubisoft, using images from the Far Cry Primal video game. This went a long way in making this film a reality during the pandemic, as we were able to rely on wonderful images that already existed.”
Featuring interviews with 30 scientists alongside dramatic reenactments that evoke a real sense of life at the time, TVO Original Lady Sapiens presents impressive, newly discovered or little-known details about prehistoric culture. Evelyne Hever, a paleogeneticist at Musée de l’Homme in Paris, discusses evidence of a female homo sapien who chose a mate outside of her clan. Prehistorian Sophie Archambault de Beaune, who served as a scientific advisor to the film, reveals that the division of labour had more to do with skillsets than gender. The insights challenge our past assumptions.
This renewed portrait of prehistoric women expands our perspective on society and offers a nuanced understanding of the strong, multi-faceted mothers and craftswomen who also contributed to their world as hunters and artists. TVO Original Lady Sapiens is part of TVO’s International Women’s Day lineup in March, which also includes the Australian politics documentary Ms Represented and more.
Watch the premiere of TVO Original Lady Sapiens on Tuesday, March 8 at 9 pm ET on TVO and stream any time on TVO.org, YouTube and TVO streaming channels. Stay current on the latest TVO documentary news and insights by signing up for the brand-new TVO Docs Newsletter at TVO.org/newsletters.
