Happening

France, 1963. Anne is a bright young student with a promising future ahead of her. But when she discovers she is pregnant, Anne is resolved to act, even if she has to confront shame and pain. Happening is set in the days when abortions were illegal in France and depicts a social and human reality that does not show any compassion towards personal distress. Audrey Diwan shapes the protagonist’s struggles as a journey of separation (from dreams and plans) and solitude, in which the immediate environment, even the body, turns its back. The result, with its emotional delicacy and political significance, deservedly won the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Festival.