ABSTRACT This article argues for the historiographic value of the long-neglected film Aloïse (1975). Directed by Liliane de Kermadec, Agnès Varda’s protégée, Aloïse is a biopic of Aloïse Corbaz, a Swiss governess, diagnosed in 1918 with schizophrenia and institutionalised until her death 46 years later, whose riotously erotic ‘Art Brut’, or so-called outsider art, latterly gained attention. This article re-appraises Aloïse in three ways. First, it situates Kermadec in a revisionist historiography of post-New Wave French cinema, bypassing male-centric auteurist models to explore intra-female mentoring networks, encompassing work by figures like Paule Delsol, Nelly Kaplan, Michèle Rosier and Varda. Second, the essay analyses the textual frictions between Kermadec’s deconstructed stylistic palette and the neurodivergent imaginings of Aloïse’s artmaking, in light of the diegetic patriarchal society affronted by such transgressive pursuits. Third, from a contemporary perspective, the article considers ‘intervention subtitling’ in light of the author’s efforts to revive Aloïse by creating new English subtitles that actually engage, and intensify, Kermadec’s diverse repertoire of suppressed female voices.