My body is mine. Abuse in the church

52mMovie

Documentary

Jérôme was a victim of sexual abuse as a child. When he reports the former priest who abused him, he picks up a camera and films for the six years leading up to the trial. Jérôme embarks on a search through his memories and questions the responsibility that, in part, his former social circle bears. In the first person, with a deeply intimate yet political tone, Jérôme Clément Wilz explains how his documentary came about: “One is not born a victim, but rather made into one. It’s a complex process that I filmed over six years and narrated from my perspective. For years I had to keep my distance from the big bad wolf. Now the machinery of justice forces me to name things. The memories return, and I must learn to live with my new self, because until now I was divided. My mind had blurred the lines between the violated body and myself. I filmed from the day I reported the crime to the day of the sentencing.