Adèle Haenel recounts her departure from cinema and settles scores with the industry

Adèle Haenel has published her first book, *Viser juste* (Aiming High), with L'Arche publishers. The former actress, now 37, blends personal narrative, political reflection, and literary exploration to examine what she calls "the construction of silence." More than a traditional memoir, the book presents itself as an attempt to reclaim her own story.

For three years, Adèle Haenel worked on this text with director Gisèle Vienne. In it, she revisits her childhood, the sexual violence she suffered, and the mechanisms that can lead a victim to doubt her own perceptions. Director Christophe Ruggia was sentenced on appeal in April 2026 to five years in prison, two of which were to be served under house arrest with an electronic tag, for sexual assaults committed against her when she was between 12 and 14 years old.

The author, however, refuses to present Aiming Right as the conclusion of her legal battle. Her aim is rather to examine the symbolic disappearance of the child she once was and how denial is constructed around the violence. This hybrid approach allows her to avoid a simple chronological narrative and to connect her personal journey to a broader critique of power dynamics.

A definitive break with cinema

Adèle Haenel also revisits her highly publicized departure from the 2020 César Awards ceremony, following the award given to Roman Polanski. This scene made her one of the leading French figures of the MeToo movement. In her book, she does not directly name the director, but refers to him through the accusations and legal proceedings surrounding him.

Twice awarded a César and brought to prominence by films such as Water Lilies, Love at First Fight, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Adèle Haenel says she is no longer drawn to cinema. She denounces an industry that, she claims, confines actresses to the role of the "young ingenue" before marginalizing them with age. She also accuses Vincent Bolloré and the far right of exerting increasing influence on the cultural sector, a militant analysis that extends her opposition to the workings of the French film industry.

It is now in public theater that Adèle Haenel claims to have found a coherence between artistic creation, political engagement, and philosophical reflection. Her distance from the stage has reduced her media exposure, but she believes her work has deepened. With Aiming Right, therefore, she is not making a return to cinema, but rather confirming a new artistic trajectory in which literature and the stage are gradually replacing the screen.