Adèle Haenel, more committed than ever, announces that she is retiring from cinema, with two exceptions. The actress explained it in the columns of the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto, in Milan, where she currently plays in the theater.
At a distance from the world of cinema since 2019, Adèle Haenel has since focused on her career in the theater and has multiplied the positions taken, testifying to a strong commitment in the political field.
If the actress had already clearly explained her position in relation to the world of cinema in Marine Turchi’s book, Lack of evidencepublished last fall at Seuil, she says today a little more about possible future collaborations, and how her choices could be made.
In an interview for Il Manifesto, Italian equivalent of the newspaper L’Humanité, Adèle Haenel says bluntly that she is stopping the cinema, then clarifies. “I will no longer be working with established directors, but only with new, up-and-coming artists. The only (established director) who I can work with again is Celine Sciamma because our relationship goes beyond the professional, but it will have to be in another economic system. And it is not a question of choosing in relation to the subject, to the theme. It’s a question of redefining a reality, of questioning our perception as Gisèle does (Gisele Vienna, director of the play L’Etang, Ed.). Form and meaning coincide.“
They say they are fighting against sexism, but in reality nothing has changed.
Relaunched by journalist Simona Spaventa of Il Manifesto on the form that this cinema could take, Adèle Haenel continues: “We have many artists who want to make cinema in a different way, with other representations, other bodies. I could take part in this cinema, if that happens. And there are interesting films like A Whole Night Without Knowing by Payal Kapadia, or Us by Alice Diop.”
And to add:But in the film industry, as it is today, there is no hope. We see it with the way women are viewed. They use one or two to hide the nakedness of an oppressive system. You just have to look at the Cannes selection. They say they are fighting against sexism, but in reality nothing has changed. Those in power continue to oppress us. We always reward rapists and they want me to shut up? Never.”
Politics today is an emergency, a matter of life and death.
More committed than ever, Adèle Haenel explains that, in addition to her career in the theater which she intends to pursue (especially with personalities like Gisèle Vienne), now dedicating her time to her political commitments and listening to victims: “Most of my energy is now dedicated to listening to victims of abuse. But I love art, and I still think it’s important as a collective experience. It remains one of the centers of my life.”
“The other is politics, which today is an emergency, a matter of life and death. It’s good that Le Pen didn’t win, but Macron is exacerbating the issue of racism, dividing the working class and weakening it. He is an authoritarian person, which we can see with the use of violence against the demonstrators, and which is intolerable. They try to reduce the dialogue, making it a dominant monologue. The anger in France is very strong, and it’s the only thing that can lead to change.”
Adèle Haenel will soon be at the Théâtre des Amandiers, in Nanterre, for the play L’Etang, directed by Gisèle Vienne, which is sold out. No movie shooting is on the agenda. Contrary to what many media had announced, Adèle Haenel will not be in the cast of Bruno Dumont’s next film, The Empire, which is scheduled to shoot this summer with Lily-Rose Depp, Camille Cottin, Anamaria Vartolomei and Fabrice Luchini.
For the record, Adèle Haenel’s last speech dates back to last fall with journalist Marine Turchi. Two years after having collected the shock testimony of the actress Adele Haenel (accusing director Christophe Ruggia of sexual harassment and touching), and conducted a vast investigation into #MeToo in French cinema, the Mediapart journalist unveiled the book-investigation entitled “Fault of evidence”, with a long interview with Adèle Haenel, going back in detail on his judicial journey and the echoes that we had his speech.
The world of cinema, for me, wants to heal a little too quickly from the questions that have just been raised.
She also gave her vision of the film industry today: “The world of cinema, for me, wants to heal a little too quickly from the questions that have just been raised. There is a kind of obsession with making peace as soon as possible, that is to say, to plunge back into the status quowhile on the contrary we must take the time to understand the implications of the #MeToo movement, in order to transform the organization of work and society in depth“, she confided during this interview of about fifteen pages coming to close the book of Marine Turchi.
“It has now been more than two years dedicated to this story. I really don’t regret it, because it’s the most important thing I’ve done in my life. (…) The most important thing for me today, beyond justice, is this community. The feeling that my approach could help some people. (…) The most important thing is to welcome these stories and recognize that this is a social problem on which we can act.“
Lack of evidence, investigation into justice in the face of #MeToo revelationsby Marine Turchi, Seuil editions, is available in bookstores.