“Elle, la vie, l’avenir…”, a short film to break the taboo around endometriosis

Stéphanie Zabaldu Minvielle, a resident of Tarnos in the Landes, was diagnosed with endometriosis three years ago. Passionate about photography and video, she decided to make a short film to raise awareness about this inflammatory and chronic disease that affects one in ten women. “I had bleeding periods so I was losing a lot of blood. It was permanent pain in the arms and legs, which could trigger much more serious things“, she says.

Last March, Stephanie underwent a third operation where her uterus was removed. It is this painful personal story that pushed her to break the silence around this disease and to start directing a film. “I launched an appeal on social networks to have as many women suffering from this disease as possible to be able to film them and show their real life“, she explains.

Lens Rods

For fifteen minutes, the short film Her, life, the future… portrays a love story. The couple is interpreted by two professional dancers. The young woman will discover that she has endometriosis and will have to make a choice. The film reveals the suffering of the sick, the medical wandering, the reflex to conceal the diagnosis from the relatives or the professional entourage.

Thirteen women with endometriosis also participated in the film, shot in the Southwest. “We shot in Tarnos, at the Bayonne cinema, in the Bordeaux vineyards”, says Stéphanie Zabaldu Minvielle. The short film has already been spotted by some festivals on social networks, but its director is also targeting the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. “It was sent to the Cannes Film Festival, several days ago so we are part of the selection, but now we have to be selected and nominated“, she adds.