Between January 1989 and July 1990, five working-class French women – and childhood friends – from the small town in the Vaucluse département, L’Isle-sur-la Sorgue, worked together to commit a series of bank robberies.

Over the course of 18 months, they disguised themselves as men – sometimes with a fake moustache or cap – robbing five more banks and one temporary employment agency, managing to steal close to 300,000 francs in total (roughly equivalent to €79,000).

Their story dominated press coverage at the time and now, 30 years later, will be told again, in a film by director Mélissa Drigeard which is set for release in the autumn of 2025.

They were arrested while attempting their eighth robbery, and eventually found guilty by the criminal court of Vaucluse in Carpentras in 1996.

Their story is unique, not only because of their gender, but also because of how they spent their looted cash. Instead of splashing the money on luxury items, the five braqueuses purchased groceries and toys for their children, as well as a used car.

In total the court found that they had stolen 300,000 francs over 18 months – which when divided by five worked out as less than a minimum wage salary for the same period.

Why did they commit the robberies?

The Amazones – Laurence Foucrier, Hélène Trinidad, Carole Toucourt, Fatija Maamar and her sister Malika – were struggling to make ends meet, some barely getting by as single mothers, housekeepers, and shop assistants.

Covering the 1996 court case, French daily Le Monde reported that the robberies were “to help Hélène and her children”, and more generally just to scrape together some money.

Hélène, the mother of three children, one of them with a disability, had just been informed she had been overpaid by the family benefits office, CAF. The shop assistant discovered that she owed 9,000 francs.

In the 1998 documentary, Hélène explained: “We thought about the banks over a cup of coffee. We had serious financial problems.”

Another Amazone, Fatija (Kathy), told reporter Alain Peloux for Le Provençal (now La Provence) in 1996 a bit of their thought process. “There were children in the middle of it all, children I consider a bit like my own (…) The banks are the only place where there is money, so we went there. Not to go on a rampage, just to survive,” she said.

What happened to them?

After they were caught in 1991, they spent several months held on remand, then they were released, though held under ‘judicial supervision’ for four years.

In 1996, they were finally found guilty by the court of Vaucluse in Carpentras for armed robbery and criminal conspiracy, facing life imprisonment.

However, the court took into consideration their four years of ‘good behaviour’, and decided to release four of the accused. The fifth – Carole – denied involvement in the crimes, and was sentenced to one year in prison.