Gisele Pelicot’s daughter will describe the rape process of parents in Doc
Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter, Caroline Darian, is the narrator of a moving documentary that details the trial of the mass rape case involving her parents and sheds light on the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.
The documentary, titled “Chemical Submission, May Shame Change Camp,” was produced by the award-winning Parisian company CAPA (“Wagner, Putin’s Shadow Army”) and commissioned by French public broadcaster France Televisions. The feature-length documentary was written by Linda Bendali (“Crisis Cell”) and Andrea Rawlins Gaston. Bendali directs, while Rawlins Gaston and Patrice Lorton produce. Rawlins Gaston has directed many socially engaged series and documentaries exploring issues of incest, rape and harassment, including ‘Infrarouge’ and ‘Inceste, Le dire et l’entendre’.
Darian became an activist after her life fell apart in November 2020 when she discovered that her beloved father, with whom she had a close relationship, had drugged and raped her mother along with dozens of strangers for more than a decade.
The case remains ongoing as French prosecutors have sought prison sentences of 4 to 20 years for the 51 men accused of taking part in Pelicot’s repeated rape over a decade. The prosecutor sought a 20-year prison sentence for her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, who admitted recruiting strangers online to come to their home and rape his wife while she was sedated.
Darian took the stand during the 10-week trial, recounting her trauma when they discovered officers had also discovered a folder on her father’s computer called ‘ma fille à poil’ (‘my daughter naked ‘) containing photos of her. asleep with the covers off and the lights on. Although her father was not accused of drugging or sexually abusing her, she suspects he was. “I immediately realized that I was drugged in that photo,” Darian said at the criminal court in Avignon, as reported by The New York Times.
She also wrote the book “Et j’ai cessé de t’appeler papa: Le livre sur l’affaire des viols et le procès de Mazan” (“And I stopped calling you papa: the book about the rapes and the trial in Mazan” ), which was published last year.
The documentary was created in 2023 and stems from Darian’s association “M’endors pas” (“Don’t let me fall asleep”), which she founded to fight against drugging.
“For ten years, Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, to rape her and had her raped by dozens of men. The case has become emblematic of rape culture and male supremacy around the world. Starring Caroline Darian, the daughter of the perpetrator and the victim, this film takes a look behind the scenes of this historic trial,” reads the synopsis.
The documentary also gives voice to five drugging victims, four women and one man, who stand up alongside Darian to “expose this systemic modus operandi that has gone under the radar for too long… So shame can change sides ,” said CAPA.
Earlier this week, Channel 5 announced a fast-paced documentary titled “The Pelicot Rape Case: A Town on Trial,” which will provide a psychological, legal and cultural perspective on the case and an on-camera interview with one of the alleged rapists .
