Jeanne Dark

About

The farmer’s daughter Johanna hears heavenly voices commanding her to liberate France in wartime. First celebrated as a visionary heroine, she is burned at the stake as a witch in 1431. To this day, the Maid of Orléans remains a myth that is constantly appropriated. Some see her as a religious fanatic or a nationalist; others as a feminist trailblazer or a courageous idealist. Above all, she embodies the longing for a better world, for which she appears to fight single-handedly as a young woman. Inspired by the many tales about Johanna, Belgian director Lies Pauwels creates her own punk-poetic world of images. She stages Johanna as a driven human being, torn between faith, doubt, and self-assertion. A highly musical, sensitive performance about ideals, power, powerlessness, and the great question: Who am I, really, in this chaotic world?