Her films are a
social commentary on gender inequality, violence against women, socioeconomic class and adolescence.
Screening Minors in Latin American Cinema described Sistach's directorial perspective on these issues, saying, "films such as Sistach's highlight the socioeconomic divide between adolescence and sexual exploration in those higher up versus lower down on the economic scale. Moreover, they illustrate the lack of agency and recourse to justice available to adolescents on the lower end of the economic scale - especially female adolescents who are twice marginalized by gender and economic status." According to Rashkin, Sistach's
Los pasos de Ana (1990), along with Busi Cortés'
El secreto de Romeila (1988) were the two most popular feature films directed by Mexican women of their time. Her films were described by critics as innovative, as they opened doors and created opportunities for women in cinema and film production. Rashkin stated that the works created a genre of "
women's cinema" that took women characters beyond objectification. She further remarked that Sistach's work allowed for more autonomy for women in film. She aimed to reshape the portrayal of women in Mexican cinema, saying,"I believe that women have to invent, in our field of work, a new language that will be nourished by the common experiences of our individual histories. This woman’s word should be inscribed in our culture. To destroy the false mirror of woman that is, in general, the cinema. . . . It means reappropriating our image and in doing so, seeking our identity."Sistach's perspective is to comment on societal constructs in Mexico as well as to present a feminist demand for change in patriarchal aspects of this society. Critic Diego de Pozo's commentary on Sistach's
Perfume de violetas celebrates both of these purposes, stating,"
Perfume de violetas shows how the city and its economy interact, which in turn has an effect on individuals as manifested in family and social interaction and expectancies and including the constructions of gender. All of these elements are intensified in the broad lower-class. Sistach's film becomes a representation of how the urban setting, with its limited access and drive to attain capital, provokes sexual violence against females and transforms these citizens into agents of violence to secure survival [...] Perfume de violetas denounces the governmental and societal ignorance which affects females in Mexico. The protagonist interacts with a dominant culture and an urban space that provoke sexual violence against the female subject. The home and school spheres create the construction of gender which result in violence when females enter the public space." == Filmography ==