The Sitting Duck (15)
Directed by Jean-Paul Salome 

SET within France’s nuclear power industry, this extraordinary political thriller (original title: La Syndicaliste, demoted in the English version to an anti-union pejorative) is based on the real life story of trade unionist and whistleblower Maureen Kearney, and how she was crushed by the system when she tried to lift the lid on a top secret deal that shook the French nuclear sector. 

Kearney (Isabelle Huppert) was the head trade union representative at Areva, one of France’s nuclear energy giants, where she fought relentlessly to safeguard the jobs of its 50,000-strong workforce. On learning that a contract was being agreed with the Chinese that would result in the transfer of sensitive nuclear technology from Areva to China and the loss of thousands of jobs at Areva, Kearney confronted ministers and industry leaders as she battled for her members. 

Months later, on December 17 2012, she was brutally attacked in her own home.