Magistral.e.s

Inspired by her immersion in the judicial world, and a trial that contributed to the evolution of the law on non-consent by minors under 15, the director questions the system: how can a society demand that a child demonstrate that she has not consented? By giving voice to those who investigate, accuse, defend and judge, Alexandra Cismondi turns the stage into a space of tension and reflection. Somewhere between theater and justice, Magistral-e-s not only re-enacts a trial, it also questions the very writing of the law and the collective responsibility it engages. In the dock, a twenty-seven-year-old man denies raping an eleven-year-old girl, arguing that he did not know her age and that she was "consenting". Absent from the trial, the young girl is defended by her lawyer. On the stand, strategies clash: dismantling the victim's credibility, pointing out the flaws in a system, trying to change the law. Little by little, the case moves beyond the individual to become a major issue: recognizing the collective responsibility of a society that struggles to name rape. With Marie-Sohna Condé, Noémie Gantier, Elio Massignat, Mélodie Richard, Crystal Shepherd-Cross