After studying law and working in the humanitarian sector, Stéphane Mercurio trained at the Ateliers Varan in 1992. She then directed her first film, Scènes de ménages avec Clémentine, about the relationship between a housekeeper and her employers. The film was broadcast on Arte and selected for several film festivals. In 1993, she filmed a housing rights campaign and became involved with the magazine “La Rue.” Three years later, she directed Cherche avenir avec toit, a chronicle of the journey out of social exclusion. Since then, she has written and directed several documentaries for television, notably A l’ombre de la République, which follows the work of the General Inspectorate of Places of Deprivation of Liberty and was also released in theaters. Stéphane Mercurio has also directed two feature films: A côté, a portrait of women waiting for visiting hours outside the prison, and Mourir ? Plutôt crever ! about the cartoonist Siné. The director also creates short documentary and fiction films. In August 2016, she took to Facebook to publish a “documentary stroll” titled Les parisiens d’août, consisting of fifteen short films ranging from one to four minutes in length.