Born in Algeria, Martine Barrat was raised in France and came to the United States in 1968 to perform with Ellen Stewart's La MaMa Experimental Theater Club. In the 1970s, she became a world-renowned photographer and filmmaker, creating a vibrant pictorial archive of life in Harlem and the South Bronx. She also worked closely with Ornette Coleman and other jazz musicians. Keeping her ties to France, she directed Woman is Sweeter, an intimate portrait of fashion designer Yves St. Laurent, for which Galt McDermott composed the soundtrack. Barrat directed two other films commissioned by Yves St. Laurent, one to launch a new perfume in 1971, and another to showcase one of his Paris fashion shows. She writes: "It was so moving and joyful to see Yves taking care of each detail of the clothes, the hair, the shoes...how careful he was. And then he would go in front of the video screen and watch with a smile as the models walked down the runway. He owned the biggest collection of my Harlem photography and I continue to be comforted by the support and enthusiasm that he showed me."