Program Note
In 2020, France was turned upside down when French editor, writer, and director Vanessa Springora released her memoir, Consent. In the book, she details the sexual abuse and psychological domination she suffered from the famous French writer Gabriel Matzneff when she was fourteen. It is a record of how Matzneff, then fifty years old, approached her and established a relationship, how that relationship became the motif and novel of Matzneff’s creation, and the psychological and physical pain she experienced in the process. The film Consent, directed by Vanessa Filho, is based on this memoir, and Vanessa Springora participated as a co-screenwriter. Paris in the mid-1980s. There is tension throughout the black and white screen. Matzneff’s primal desire and psychological control over Vanessa, as well as Vanessa’s love and hate and obsession for Matzneff, are tense. However, fortunately, Vanessa will gradually realize that this is not her love, but a self-destructive catastrophe. Actress Kim Higelin safely handled the role of Vanessa, who must have had a difficult time. (JEONG Jihye)