2024 - Hélène Zimmer
Hélène Zimmer (b. 1989) is a French author, screenwriter and director.
So far she has published three novels with P.O.L. Fairy Tale (Prix Marie-Claire 2017) is a family portrait set against a backdrop of unemployment and reality TV. Her second book, Vairon, deals with the anarchism and feminism of the Belle Époque. Dans la Réserve (finalist for the Prix du Roman d'Écologie 2024) unfolds as a manhunt in a national park under heavy surveillance.
Hélène Zimmer wrote and directed a 2015 feature film, À 14 ans, which was selected at the Tribeca, Angers, Gijon, Melbourne and Hof festivals. The film follows three teenage girls who face haressment.
In 2021, Zimmer travelled to Brussels as part of her research into the International Tribunal for Crimes Against Women in 1976. She then interacted with Nicole Van de Ven, a traveller, journalist and photographer who helped organise this groundbreaking event and co-wrote the “Crimes Against Women” report with Diana Russell.
During her residency at Passa Porta, Hélène Zimmer will continue these conversations, which will form the raw material for a non-fiction book on feminist engagement.