Venice Film Festival: L’Evenement wins Golden Lion

Gut-punching drama wowed viewers with portrayal of young woman desperate to arrange a termination in 1960s, when it could mean a prison term or death.

Audrey Diwan’s L’Evenement, or Happening, a film about illegal abortions in 1960s France, has won the Venice Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion. The gut-punching drama impressed viewers with its portrayal of a young woman desperate to arrange a termination, at a time when it could mean a prison term or death, to continue with her studies. “I did this movie with anger, with desire, with my belly, my guts, my heart and my head,” Diwan said on Saturday as she accepted the award.