52 Films by Women Vol 6. 38. HAPPENING (L’événement) (Director: Audrey Diwan)
Audrey Diwan’s second film as director, L’ é v é nement ( Happening ) is a tightly controlled, grab and don't let go adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s 2000 novel. Diwan, who has worked on the screenplays for BAC Nord , HHhH and La French , directed by C é dric Jimenez, infuses the film with the accelerated heartbeat of a thriller. You utterly root for the protagonist, young student Anne Duchesne (Anamaria Vartolomei) as she seeks an abortion at a time (1960s France) when such acts were criminalised. Abortion remains a controversial issue. Although today it is illegal in all forms only in twenty-four countries (source: World Population Review ), in another thirty-seven countries it is permitted only if it saves a mother’s life. In the US, up to twenty-six states are seeking to outlaw abortion, with eight states having unenforced bans in their statute books. Abortion was only legalised in France in January 1975, when a woman who could request it before the tenth week of pregnancy. P...