Alice is seventeen when she files a rape complaint. Far from a process meant to establish the facts, she finds herself in a labyrinth of appointments, expert assessments, conflicting proceedings and interminable delays. The adults refuse to take responsibility for a situation that is beyond them, and no one tells her what is being said behind closed doors.
Drawing on the hundreds of pages of her case file, Alice sets out to reconstruct what really happened during the proceedings. She tries to expose the mechanisms that alter, displace or discredit the words of those who speak out.
Blending court records, memories and literary reconstruction, Et les oiseaux restent à terre (And the Birds Stay on the Ground) tells the story of a young woman who, in the face of institutional violence, refuses to let her voice be erased.
