The film Memoire de fille, based on the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, has been showing in theaters since Wednesday, September 30. Directed by Judith Godrèche, the film adapts Ernaux's personal account of being a monitor at a summer camp in 1958 and the traumatic sexual assault she endured. Ernaux, who spent many years avoiding the term "rape," publicly used it in the wake of the #MeToo movement in 2020, which brought global attention to issues of sexual violence and harassment. Godrèche describes her approach to filming the trauma as feminist and intentional, aiming to portray patriarchal violence without any form of sexualization. She wanted to highlight the protagonist's feelings of dissociation and powerlessness. Before beginning the film, Godrèche wrote a letter to Ernaux explaining her vision and suggested a meeting, which Ernaux agreed to after an initial conversation. The film uses a subjective camera technique to immerse the viewer in the protagonist's perspective, avoiding the gaze of the aggressor. The editing deliberately avoids any erotic elements, and the visual framing changes as the character gains more independence, with more open and mature shots appearing as the story progresses. The film also includes a meta element, showing the 70-year-old Ernaux looking back at the events that profoundly shaped her life. A key scene in the film, depicting the protagonist's first traumatic encounter with the aggressor, was carefully staged to avoid any sense of glamour or exploitation. In certain shots, the actress carries the camera to maintain the protagonist's point of view. The film avoids voyeurism and instead focuses on the long-term impact of the trauma on the protagonist's life, her relationships, and her self-perception. Godrèche also introduced elements not present in Ernaux's original book, such as the aggressor's abusive behavior toward children and other staff members, the protagonist's secret lover, and a reference to the Algerian war. These additions aim to highlight the broader social and systemic issues that intersect with the protagonist's personal trauma, offering a more layered and contextualized narrative.