13-23 nov 2025
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The Sessions
Program
The Sessions

The Sessions

De sessies
Sien Versteyhe
Belgium
2025
71 min
World Premiere
Luminous
Synopsis

A young student undergoing trauma therapy recounts how she was raped by someone she trusted. The camera focuses on the therapist’s face, and we never see the anonymous speaker. The Sessions unfolds almost entirely in this space, where the young woman speaks openly about the impact of the rape. Outside the therapy room she doesn’t dare speak to anyone else about it—only her boyfriend knows what happened.

Throughout this period, her rapist is being questioned by the police. We don’t see these interrogations taking place, but we do hear about them in phone calls between the young woman and the court. They can tell her very little, and the police also prove to be of little help to her.

While she suffers every day from what was done to her, it looks like he’s going to get away with it. Her conversations with the therapist and the legal system provide insight into the long and difficult healing process that follows sexual violence.

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Credits
71 min
color
DCP
Spoken languages: Dutch
Director
    Sien Versteyhe
    Sien Versteyhe
Production
    Wouter Sap for Lionheart Productions
    Wouter Sap for Lionheart Productions
Co-production
    Simon Vrebos for VRT
    Simon Vrebos for VRT
Cinematography
    Sien Versteyhe
    Sien Versteyhe
Editing
    Dieter Diependaele
    Dieter Diependaele
Sound Design
    Thomas Vertongen
    Thomas Vertongen
Music
    Patricia Vanneste
    Patricia Vanneste
Screenplay
    Sien Versteyhe
    Sien Versteyhe
Involved TV Channel
    VRT
    VRT
Screening copy
    Lionheart Productions
    Lionheart Productions
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