Francois Ozon about his new film “By the Will of God”

Before the premiere of your film "By the will of God" on Berlin Film Festival 2019 French director Francois Ozon gave an exclusive commentary about his new film to accredited journalists. In Berlin, the film was awarded the second most important award, the Silver Bear. The film tells the story of the molestation of boys by a Catholic priest in a children's camp and the victims' struggle for justice many years later...

The film is released in Russia on April 29, 2019 and, obviously, will find both fans and ardent opponents. In the new film, Ozon, on the one hand, seems to “undermine” the authority of the only spiritual institution of modern society, the Church, and on the other, gives “the right to vote” to victims of violence. The director claims that being a victim of violence is no longer shameful. After all, this happened even to strong and successful men... As always, the director masterfully inverts conventional social dogmas: strengths and weaknesses, and the social and personal collide again in his film. In communication with journalists, Francois Ozon emphasized that “By the Will of God” is not a political picture, but a civil one.”

Francois Ozon on zealous French Catholicism

“Unlike my other films, For God's sake is not a work of fiction, it is reality. The structure of the film is also based on real history. The main character began his struggle alone. The Church did not react in any way to the story of molestation 20 years ago. Then other victims gathered around him. A public organization was created "The Liberated Word" (“La parole libérée”), and the liberation of speech is the main thing in the film.”

Francois Ozon about the filming of the film “By the Will of God”

“Making this film was not easy. In Lyon, a very Catholic region, we didn’t even ask for permission to film, we filmed street scenes there under a secret name. All footage inside the church was filmed in Belgium. In addition, it was not easy for me to find funding. My traditional partner Canal+ refused to support the project. In the end, the real victims of this molestation, after watching the film, highly appreciated the result.”

Francois Ozon about men and their feelings

“Men have feelings too. But they are afraid to show them. All my films are dedicated to strong women, this is the first film dedicated to men. In the film, male victims begin to talk about their teenage tragedy and act against the molester only when their children reach the age when the events happened to the parent.”

François Ozon on the silence of victims of violence

Francois Ozon connects such a long silence (up to 35-40 years) with the fact that in our society, where they prefer the “strong,” it is a shame to be a victim of violence and a victim in general. In adulthood, a person’s position is stable, he can stand up for himself in the face of the machine of public opinion, he, as a rule, has both material resources and a family.

François Ozon on the social benefits of the film

“I hope that the film will be useful to our society, especially since violence often happens in the family.”

François Ozon's film By the Will of God ends with a question. But in France, the picture has already caused a heated public debate. Public attention was again drawn to the case of the priest-molester Bernard Prein.