Paul Greengrass made the use of handheld camera 'hip' in Hollywood with his 'Bourne' movies and, by all accounts, he should most definitely be put on a list of the most influential action filmmakers of the 21st century. His films make you feel like you are really there, in the thick of the action. His very best work ("Captain Phillips," "United 93," "Blood Sunday," "The Bourne Supremacy"), heroic stories of unimaginable horror with edge of your seat thrills, reinforced the importance of the handheld camera, as a way to bring ultra-reality, at the movies. HOWEVER, Greengrass' documentary-style camerawork has, at times, felt tiresome and repetitive, case in point 2010's "Green Zone" and 2016's "Jason Bourne."
The Greengrass-stamped frenetic camerawork seems to be back with "22 July," a Netflix-backed true account of far-right terrorist attacks which happened on 7.22.11 in a Norwegian youth camp. To this day, it has been the deadliest terrorist attack in Norway's history, as 77 teenagers were murdered that tragic day. Greengrass directed and wrote""22 July" which got yanked from last May’s Cannes Film Festival due to the Netflix dispute.
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.