Synopsis
Anchored in the interregionality characteristic of toutEs ou pantoute, Pour essayer de m’entendre is a choral audio documentary that explores the folds and contours of solitude. Free of narration and carried by a delicate weaving of voices, the work offers a journey through the inner landscapes shaped by solitude—whether chosen, imposed, comforting, or painful. Through the reflections and confidences of five women from diverse backgrounds and experiences, enriched with poetic excerpts and anonymous testimonies, Pour essayer de m’entendre invites listeners on a voyage into an intimacy more universally shared than it might seem.
A word from Tënk
In September 2025, French journalist and feminist podcast producer Lauren Bastide published Enfin seule, half essay, half narrative, in which she presents women’s embrace of solitude as a victory. At a bookstore event where more than fifty of us listened to her present her work, I noticed that the first two rows were filled with women with white hair. They seemed serene, at peace, even relieved to realize that their solitude is shared, and that rather than being a sign of failure, it can open a liberating path.
The emotion I felt listening to this work is similar to what I experienced that evening in the bookstore: a contemplation of the experiences we only share with ourselves, and the creative forces that emerge from them despite their dizzying depths. Through the intimate stories of five women and anonymous voice messages reminiscent of those once left on answering machines, the directors invite us to see solitude as a collective experience—a necessary encounter with oneself.
The Filministes
