Benedicte Delmas exhumed a little known episode of the feminist struggle: the rebellion in 1971, the home for pregnant teens du Plessis-Robinson
Excluded from their school. marginalized by their own families, abused … in the early 1970s, the teenage home of Plessis-Robinson, in the Hauts-de-Seine, are paying a high price for what society considers an unforgivable mistake: becoming pregnant . May 68 stopped at the gates of this public institution for “fallen women” … The revolt will come from within. End of 1971, residents begin, with support from the MLF, a hunger strike to refuse the fate imposed on them. With her first TV movie, sensitive and educational, They … Girls du Plessis , the director Benedicte Delmas unearthed this little-known page of the feminist struggle, and provides a valuable link between the struggles of the past and the younger generation.
How did you find this?
this goes back a decade. I was reading a biography of Simone de Beauvoir, written by Claudine Monteil. There were a few lines that she had supported the hunger strike in a shelter for pregnant minors in Plessis-Robinson
I was particularly struck by the age of the girls, who were between 13 and 17, and by the violence of the standoff in which they were launched. Initially, they were alone, and they were backed by a supervisor who put them in contact with the MLF.
The case dates back to forty-five. Have you found witnesses
It’s very complicated because most little girls who were in such homes have changed names. Their story remains painful. I’ve searched and I have found in a single, which was part before the strike. However, I met the supervisor who made the link with the MLF. She had kept the archives, including the conduct of the strike and claims. These documents have allowed me to build the story.
What liberties have been taken with respect to reality?
I have invented four girls who carry the film. It was important to take the fiction through engaging and additional characters. One of them, Marie-France, is pregnant with her boyfriend, but be aware that most residents had experienced rape or incest … Through the character of Jacqueline, who is struggling to be recognized as a victim during the trial of her rapist, I wanted to show that the fight for women’s rights was global.
“at the time, the parents had all powers: corporal punishment shocked person “
I am also very interested in the pre-strike. what made aware of these broken daughters that they live an injustice and they can say “no”? At the time, the beating of a girl by her father was a trigger. Residents wanted to intervene but the director has prevented them saying: “It is not interposed between a father and his daughter! “ I have not made this reflection in the film because I thought no one would believe me! At the time, the parents had full authority over their children: corporal punishment shocked person
Alerted by the MLF, Simone de Beauvoir went to Plessis-Robinson to meet the strikers. accompanied by journalists. This very act is not in the movie, why?
I have had a case of conscience. How embody Simone de Beauvoir in two sequences and with a paltry text without falling into the demonstration or make an overwhelming figure? He would have had to find an actress who definitely looks like him. And if her presence legitimized the film, she was double-edged: viewers were going to focus on it, and I do not want to lose the perspective of young girls. I mounted an interview sequence of true Simone de Beauvoir, but again, we cut the emotion of adolescents. I have not kept.
The fight for the right to abortion does not appear central in the film while at the time feminists had already catapulted heart of public debate. Why?
These little girls are concerned about their future and access to education. Although it is mentioned by Marie-France, the right to abortion was mostly defended by women who assumed their sexuality. Girls du Plessis hyper youth seemed to lead this fight. For activists MLF, the battle for the legalization of abortion was already underway, but it is not what motivated primarily supporting the strike. There were girls from very modest backgrounds who fought to avoid being excluded from high schools and colleges.
“Whatever they do, they were guilty. “
They were also greatly encouraged by officials to abandon their baby …
the management had an adverse report with them. When they wanted to keep their children, they were told: “You are well looked you? What you have to offer to your kid? If you want a life of misery for him guard it! “ And when they wanted to give up, we retorted: ” You do not know what it will become, and you do not care! “ Whatever they do, they were guilty.
Even if the tone is brighter, the film evokes The Magdalene Sisters , Peter Mullan . An inspiration?
I saw him just to make sure history was not too close. There is one major difference: The Magdalene Sisters involves the Catholic Church in Ireland in the post-war, while Girls du Plessis happening in a public institution of France 1970 This is much closer to us. And they are winning the battle! I was important to show that, regardless of age, sex, social status, we are not obliged to submit, or to be thousands to revolt. It is a hope and courage lesson.
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